For a decade, Ashland school district required the 70 average for athletes--a higher threshold than the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association standard that many of the state's schools follow. That standard has no minimum GPA, merely requiring that students do not flunk more than one major subject during a marking period. Parents began asking why their athletes had a higher academic hurdle to jump than those in competing school districts. Suddenly an issue that had been far down on the superintendent's list of concerns shot up to No. 1. The result was a very public disagreement between the superintendent and the majority of the school board, which finally voted 3-2 to suspend the district's higher standard for sports eligibility. This article discusses the issue of athletic eligibility versus the academic imperatives of No Child Left Behind.