COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – Playing the tuba or drums in a school marching band may soon count as gym class, as students across the state could have a new physical education option. 

State lawmakers are talking about making students in marching band programs exempt from physical education requirements. Marching bands are on the sidelines of football games, but they have their own competitions and tough practices.

Saint James High School senior Ethan Bautz tried several sports, but playing the euphonium and trombone became his passion.

“I got just as much exercise as I did at those other sports in marching band,” Bautz said. “I fell in love with music after being there.”

Bautz plays in the St. James marching band, which starts about a month before school begins.

“A lot like football teams, we have our camps,” said Chuck Capps, who’s the instrumental music director at St. James.

Capps says the band trains to run, dance and carry heavy instruments.

“The kids are out here in 100-degree weather and they are running at 160 beats a minute,” he said. “We are basically putting a drama production on the field.”

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen from the Midlands is sponsoring a bill to change physical education requirements.

The bill would exempt South Carolina high school students in official marching band programs from physical education.

“They’re probably already getting more physical activity than many folks in P.E. classes,” said Sen. Sheheen, D-Camden. “But it’s also important that they also teach to those standards of physical education.”

Bautz is bringing his brass horns to UNC-Pembroke. He’ll major in music education and play in the university’s marching band.

He says he hopes other St. James students keep the music going.

“If marching band was given out as a P.E. credit, it would allow those underclassmen and upperclassmen to take more academic classes like AP classes,” Bautz said.

Students in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps are exempt from physical education requirements, as are kids with physical disabilities or religious exceptions.

Sen. Sheheen’s bill passed unanimously in the state senate.

He says he hopes for a vote in the House of Representatives either Thursday or next week.