As reported by Southern Maryland Newspapers Online, Charles County public school students who fail a course no longer will be eligible to take part in extracurricular activities for the entire subsequent semester.  The article describes,

Beginning in the 2015-16 school year, students in grades 6 through 12 must maintain a 2.25 GPA and receive at least a “D” in their courses to participate in any extracurricular activity, including sports, otherwise they will be disqualified for an entire semester. A student who is absent more than 9.5 days in the first semester of school also will be banned.

The school board unanimously approved enforcing the more stringent policy, citing a need for a more rigorous academic program. The move mirrors an emerging trend nationwide of educators who are just now turning focus to the students, primarily athletes, who are not up to scratch on their core academics but historically have skated by.

For more information, see the full story from Southern Maryland Newspapers Online.