Anne Geggis
A measure that revamps high school sports has crossed the legislative finish line.
By a 20-12 vote, with Democrats largely against it, the Senate approved legislation (HB 225) that will change up the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) board and expand where students can choose to play sports.
“This is a school sports choice bill,” said bill sponsor Sen. Jay Collins of Tampa, in previous debate. “This is about the kids. Everyone’s focused on making sure they have the opportunity to play sports and take part in competition.”
More than the new rules for student athletes, though, the bill had critics crying foul over its original proposal to change FHSAA’s board from 16 members — mostly chosen by school districts — to a nine-member board, with eight members appointed by the Governor. The Senate amended the language so the board would have eight Governor-appointed members, four others chosen by board members and one person representing the Education Commissioner.
The House concurred with the change and added its own amendment that tweaked the definition of “private school.” By Thursday, the Senate was willing to go along with it.
The FHSAA became embroiled in controversy when it briefly made reporting on menstrual cycles mandatory for female athletes, but quickly changed course as outrage grew. Republican Rep. Fred Hawkins said the legislation was drafted before discussion on that issue erupted.
The legislation would also:
— Allow any student being home-schooled or in a private school to try out for public school teams, and allow charter school students to play for a private school, if an agreement had been worked out with the sending school.
— Eliminate the provision that one board member be chosen “to balance the board for diversity or state population trends, or both.”
— Permit two-minute opening remarks for each school before events.
The part of the bill that expands student-athlete choice is similar to a bill that already passed without any controversy and now awaits the Governor’s signature.
It would stop a situation from developing like the one that occurred at the Master’s Academy in Vero Beach. Florida statutes dictate charter school students must play at the public school they’d otherwise attend.
Someone lodged a challenge about an arrangement that had charter school students playing sports at Master’s Academy with the Sunshine State Athletic Conference last year.
The complaint forced the charter school players off the Master’s Academy team roster in the middle of some students’ senior year. And the athletic conference also overturned all of the wins the Master’s Academy Patriots notched up until that point, demoting the team to a lower bracket ahead of the state playoffs (which they ended up winning anyway).
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Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
