Kahuku Intermediate and High Schools have raised their athlete GPA requirement from a 2.0 to a 2.3. Kahuku changed their GPA because most colleges require a 2.75 average to play and Kahuku’s principal said that a 2.0 is a disadvantage for their students.

The schools requested a waiver from the Board of Education policy that will go into effect second quarter.

The real question here is “do you think other schools should raise the minimum GPA for student athletes” or “should McKinley raise their GPA?”

Soccer coach Shelby Costa said that having a 2.3 will set the athletes on point because a 2.0 is a C average and having a 2.3 will set them above average.

“I think it’s a great idea because athletes should maintain a high GPA and should be leaders,” Costa said.

Soccer player Majorlynn McMillan disagreed with the possibility of a higher GPA requirement. She said, “We should not change our athletic GPA to a 2.3 because what if others can’t reach that GPA?”

Volleyball player Hokulani Dunn said, “We should not change our GPA because the more the GPA goes up for athletes to join a sport, the harder it’s going to be for them to play a sport.”

McKinley’s athletic program has 56 teams in 21 sports. This makes our school one of the largest public school athletic program in the state.

“If I could change our school GPA, I would change it to a 2.3 because they are all student athletes. Academics comes first. But I don’t hold any power to make that kind of decision because our school GPA is OIA requirements,” said student athletic director Bob Morikuni.

He also said that teams could be negatively affected by this change. Some of the student athletes are hanging on to that 2.0 line. By changing it, it would mean that those who did not reach this requirement are not allowed on the field.