When report cards arrive, vigilant parents turn immediately to what could be a confounding and heart-stopping grade in a subject with no bearing on academic averages: Gym.

That's right, gym, also known as physical education or PE. At least a dozen high school seniors I know are either failing it, coming close or getting lackluster marks like 70. And some of these are terrific students, headed to top colleges.

Can schools please stop giving out grades in gym?

I agree that if students repeatedly don't show up to gym class, they shouldn't pass. I also understand the frustration gym teachers must have when kids show up for gym in impossibly tight skinny jeans or skimpy dresses and platform shoes.

Last week, I pulled a bathing suit out of my younger son's backpack that he put in by mistake instead of his gym shorts; I'm sure the gym teacher wasn't amused. However, the suit was an improvement over the many days he came home with unfamiliar clothing he'd borrowed for gym after forgetting his own.

Grades in gym don't count as part of the overall average, so I'm not sure why the ugly number must appear on the report card at all. But my complaint goes a lot further. Anyone who has followed Mayor Michael Bloomberg's crusade against soft drinks knows this city has an obesity problem. Research shows giving kids an active break leads to improved achievement, better test scores and improves their health and well-being, as the physical education task force of the Women's City Club of New York pointed out in a meeting this month. Gym really does matter. 

Yet how it's handled has stumped me ever since my kids attended a tiny, terrific elementary school that had neither gym nor playground. I was often impressed at the creativity teachers employed to get children moving, including an array of games, rhythm sticks, hula hoops and relay races in a tiny courtyard.

The middle school my kids attended had a similar challenge when it came to gym, but because everyone had to climb a seemingly endless series of stairs to get there we were all too out of breath to care about the need for even more exercise. The school shared a rooftop that allowed for some great hockey and soccer tournaments and made the most out of its tiny gym with a basketball hoop constantly in need of repair. There were some real bright spots, including track and soccer teams. With the principal's encouragement, some dedicated parents and teachers pushed to get a swim team started in a basement pool, overcoming the most daunting obstacle of all: getting middle schoolers into bathing suits in front of their classmates.

We did have one irritating gym episode I will never forget. My older son fractured his arm in a skateboarding accident and couldn't participate in gym; when he came home with a 55 I was outraged: how could a teacher fail him when he was sidelined? Turns out the grade was based on a most unfortunate incident: he'd tossed (he says accidentally) a volleyball right at the gym teacher's face, so the teacher failed him.

I'm still not sure what really happened, but I figured all this gym agitation would work its way out by high school. That was not to be: in his freshman year he came home with a 70 in gym.

"Mom,'' he insisted. "Everyone at my school gets a 70 or a 75 in gym. That's just how it is."

I can't remember if I did the investigative reporting to learn the truth. I know I tried to find the gym teacher during one of the overcrowded, three-minutes per parent teacher conference sessions, but with so many other teachers to see, I gave up.

Eventually, I gave up on gym, until both of my children failed it this fall. That took me aback, particularly because they played a varsity sport that exempted them from PE classes.

"How could you fail a class you weren't even signed up for?" I inquired.

Turns out they had not showed up for a required physical fitness test they didn't seem to know about. They were allowed to take the test later and the failing grades were removed.

Report cards came out last week; once again the gym scores were just shy of failing. I calmly inquired what went wrong, and got a lengthy explanation about how much better they are doing at gym than most of their friends.

None of this is acceptable. I know that throughout the city, there are plenty of hard-working, creative gym teachers that are making this part of the day fun and useful, often in the face of great challenges. The grades don't matter in gym, but the class does. I'm not ready to give up.

How is gym is handled in your school. Are lots of kids failing? How do teachers manage with substandard facilities? Are grades given? Any suggestions for improvements?