Jim Rosica
Two Republican state senators have filed omnibus education legislation that, among other things, would ease eligibility requirements to play in high school athletics.
Sens. Don Gaetz of Niceville and Kelli Stargel of Lakeland filed the 25-page bill (SB 684) on Friday for the 2016 Legislative Session.
Lawmakers have filed legislation five years in a row aimed at the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), including bills last session that would have done away with it altogether.
Stargel in particular has said constituents long complained to her about problems their children have had being eligible to play sports because of strict transfer and other rules.
Some students, for instance, had eligibility troubles when they changed schools but didn’t move from their home.
Stargel told FloridaPolitics.com last month that students may switch schools because their last one was failing, not because they wanted to play on a particular team. Those students shouldn’t be penalized if they can make the team, she said.
The bill would “allow a student to be immediately eligible (to play sports) in the school in which he or she first enrolls each school year,” without having to wait for the approval of a school board.
It also says a school district can’t “delay eligibility or otherwise prevent a student” who exercises school choice “from being immediately eligible to participate in interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular activities,” including athletics.
A student who transfers in the middle of a school year can “seek to immediately join an existing team if the roster … has not reached maximum size and the coach determines that the student has the requisite skill and ability to participate.”
It also ays the FHSAA “must allow a school the option of maintaining full membership in the association or joining by sport and may not discourage a school from simultaneously maintaining membership in another athletic association.”
The bill toughens penalties on recruiting, which is against state law at the high school level, creating $5,000 pay forfeitures, suspensions, and even revocations of teaching certificates.
Roger Dearing, the FHSAA’s executive director, could not be reached at his office Friday for comment on the bill. The association oversees 32 male and female high-school sports.
The organization’s defenders, including Democrats and some public school officials, have said changing eligibility rules could lead to a free agency system for high school athletes.
