<p>at our schools band counts as pe in the fall and arts in the spring and all students are required to take arts and pe. once you have those credits satisfied, you can opt to take band as pass/fail. so it wont hurt your gpa. </p>
<p>having to drop band (or whatever) to take pe so you can get the IB diploma was, i am sure, not the only option. kids here take some things in summer school (like pe) so that they can meet certain requirements during the school year.</p>