All athletes representing Douglas County High School must satisfy all eligibility requirements set forth by the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) and Douglas County High School. CHSAA requires that athletes/managers (except for incoming 9th graders) meet the following requirements for eligibility in any sanctioned activity:

• Must not be 19 years of age prior to August 1st of his/her senior year. (CHSAA 1770.1)
• Must not have had more than eight (8) consecutive semesters of high school participation. (CHSAA 1770.2)

 There are two processes all athletes will be screened for in order to be academically eligible.  

1. CHSAA Check and 
2. Weekly Eligibility Checks during the season/school year

#1 – CHSAA Check – Douglas County  is considered a “Plan A” school by the CHSAA meaning students other than first semester freshmen must have taken at least 5 full credits and failed no more than one in the previous semester.

For those students that have failed more than one class in the previous semester, they will be able to become eligible based on the regain dates set for that sport. (CHSAA 1710(d))

• Must be enrolled in five full credit classes during the current semester or participation.
• Must be enrolled at Douglas County High School as a bona fide student or in a school that does not have the specific sport of participation. (CHSAA 1710)

Students that do not pass five full credit classes in the spring semester may make up credits in two ways: 

1. summer school OR 
2. by correspondence. 

Only those classes failed may be made up through those two opportunities. Notification of the earned credits must be received by Douglas County on or before the Thursday prior to Labor Day. Douglas County currently uses Infinite Campus to report eligibility at the end of each semester as well as during the seasonal two-week grade check. At the end of the semester, an athlete may have NO more than one failing grade on his/her previous transcript (an incomplete is equivalent to an “F” until it is corrected).

The only difference is for the Fall semester. 2nd semester of the previous school year is used for eligibility – if the athlete did not pass at least 5 classes the 2nd semester (except for incoming freshmen) they are not eligible until the CHSAA specified date (CHSAA 1710 (d.2))

For Winter sports, we check their past Spring transcripts for the initial CHSAA check at the start of the winter season.  If an athlete had two “F”s at that time, they are out until we are able to check the first semester grades.  At the end of the first semester (in January) we will re-run the transcripts and student/athletes can have ONE failing grade.  If they have more than one, they are out for the remainder of the winter season since there is no regain date for winter sports.

For Spring semester, if they are ineligible for the first posting (which usually runs on or about the regain eligibility date for spring) and they were ineligible at the end of first semester they are ineligible that semester.

#2 – Weekly Grade Checks

Douglas County High School follows a “No Pass, No Play” academic eligibility policy. Student-athletes are students first and athletes second, and academic success remains the top priority. As a result, student-athletes may not participate in athletic contests while earning a failing grade.

• Personal Projects: Personal projects will count as a weekly grade to help reinforce the deadlines established throughout the school year. If a student does not complete the final project by the spring due date, they will remain ineligible until the project has been completed and submitted.

To support student success, the athletic department conducts weekly eligibility checks using Infinite Campus.

• Monday: A preliminary “heads-up” grade check is completed and sent to coaches to identify student-athletes who may be at risk of becoming ineligible. Eligibility is based on the student’s current grade.  Student-athletes identified with any failing grade will have the remainder of the week to work with their teacher(s) to improve the grade before Friday at 3:00. Athletes must communicate with the athletic department when their grade improves. We will not run a report  on Friday so the student must either complete the QR code posted outside the athletic office or talk to us directly so we can confirm the grade on IC.
• Monday: A final ineligible list will be sent to coaches with the Monday eligibility email. Any student-athlete that has not communicated with the athletic department by the Friday before at 3:00 will be ineligible for the week (Monday-Saturday.) Once a student is determined ineligible for the week, they will be out for the entire week even if the grade is raised during the week.

A student-athlete who is on the “heads up check” may regain eligibility by working with their teacher(s) to raise the failing grade to a passing grade. Once the grade has been updated, the student-athlete is responsible for notifying the Athletic Department so eligibility can be verified for the following week. If there are concerns with grades it is the students responsibility to communicate with the teacher.

 Individual programs may impose stricter academic standards and expectations for their student-athletes, including implementing additional consequences for poor academic or classroom behavior.  Please ensure your student-athlete is familiar with the eligibility policies of CHSAA, Douglas County, and their team expectations.  If you have additional questions, please contact the Douglas County High School Athletics Department.

*All of this information is covered in programs annual Parent/Athlete meetings. 

Douglas County High School Attendance Policy

Douglas County High School expects all  student-athletes to be present for at least 50% of the school day in order to participate in practice and/or contests that day.

Attendance will be monitored through daily or periodic checks conducted by the attendance office to verify eligibility. On the day of a contest, attendance will be verified and communicated to coaches prior to competition. 

Students who arrive late to school are responsible for signing in on an attendance computer to ensure they receive credit for their attendance.