MURRIETA - Should marching a sousaphone around under the hot Murrieta sun for an hour or more while sweating buckets and blowing your lungs out be counted as physical education credit? Not according to the California Department of Education.

Thus, a 5-year-old policy allowing Murrieta Valley Unified School District's high school students to earn PE credit through their marching band class is in jeopardy and under review by district officials, who say they want to follow the law but are looking at their options.

It's unclear exactly how many students any new policy could affect, nor when it would go into effect, but basically, the schedules of hundreds of students not only already involved in marching bands at Vista Murrieta and Murrieta Valley high schools, but incoming freshmen as well, are in the air.

What's more, many band and physical education teachers, two of whom spoke at a board workshop Tuesday on the issue, are also anxious about what is going to happen to their programs and are quick to defend the merits of both marching band and PE classes.

Parents and students involved in marching band are also worried.

Board President Kris Thomasian said she has received numerous phone calls from parents saying their children were told while developing their class schedules for next year that a decision had been made to not allow marching band for PE credit.

"No decision by the board has been made," Thomasian said. "This is a complex issue that we are continuing to study. My hope is that the concerns can be addressed successfully so that students have the option to not only take band, but any other class that they are interested in."

Superintendent Stan Scheer said Wednesday that officials have made resolving this issue a priority. A proposal should be presented to trustees at a June meeting, he said.

A big part of the discussion will center on whether the district can create a hybrid class that would meet state PE standards and also focus on the fundamentals of marching band, Scheer said, adding that he believes its creation is a strong possibility.

He said he believes many of the state's PE standards are already addressed in marching band, and that it just may be a matter of tweaking the class a little bit, in addition to dealing with some other teaching credentialing issues. But those issues don't seem insurmountable, he said.

"The programs we have in place are really positive," he said, referring to the popularity of marching band among Murrieta students and that getting them excited about going to school is a district goal. "We are still looking at options."

At Tuesday's workshop, a representative of the California Department of Education, Dianne Wilson Graham, told Murrieta officials that allowing marching band for PE credit is against state law.

"You are not alone," Graham said. "We are working with school districts across California."

She said that if the issue is not corrected over time, the district could lose cash support from the state. She said other districts working to develop hybrid classes have not been successful - yet.

"We are in a holding pattern until a hybrid is developed," she said.

Tuesday's discussion also turned into a debate on what constitutes physical education.

"Physical education is not the same as physical activity," Graham said.

She said "sweat and rigorous" movement, such as the actions of marching band students, don't necessary equate to the state's PE content standards, which should include everything from aquatics to gymnastics to rhythm and dance.

It's an argument that resonated with Trustee Robin Crist, who said she didn't want to "pay lip service" to health and nutrition efforts.

"It's a matter of content," Crist said. "PE is PE to me."

But Crist said she was also willing to consider a hybrid program. Scheer and Thomasian also said they are hopeful and confident that something can be developed.

"We have our work cut out for us," Thomasian said.

- Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.