Tenafly board affirms rule barring homeschooled students from district athletics, will amend policy

The Tenafly Board of Education on Thursday confirmed the district will continue to follow regulation 9270, which the administration and the education committee say prohibits homeschooled children from participating in district athletics and co-curricular activities. Board members said a revision to policy 2431 will appear as a first reading on the March agenda to align the policy with the regulation.

The question before the board was presented as: do you support the education committee and administration27s recommendation to continue to follow regulation 9270, which states that homeschool children "will not be permitted to participate in school co-curricular activities such as clubs and athletics"? Board members went around the table and stated their positions. Igor said he would "support current policies," and Adam, Angela and Bob each said they supported the administration and committee recommendation. Florence Leoni voiced the opposing view, saying she "wholeheartedly say no, and that is the hill I'll be on." After the round-robin, Board President Ed Embar said a majority supported the administration recommendation and that the administration will draft an amendment to policy 2431 for first reading in March.

The board and administrators said their decision was influenced by how Tenafly organizes extracurriculars as part of the school-day academic program and by concerns about the district27s current operational capacity. Superintendent Steven (last name not specified in the record) had briefed trustees earlier about the topic during the education committee and in public reports; trustees repeatedly noted the committee had discussed the matter at length.

At least one parent raised the issue during public comment, arguing the district27s 2020 policy update allowed homeschooled students to participate and asking the board to "stick with the current policy." The board replied that a regulatory inconsistency existed between the athletic competition policy and the homeschool regulation and that correcting that inconsistency was the committee and administration recommendation.

Board members acknowledged disagreement among themselves and several said they would be open to revisiting the question if circumstances change. Trustee Igor said he supported the recommendation "for now" but also urged the district to consider future ways to accommodate more families. Florence Leoni said her position was grounded in community inclusion: she asked the board to consider that some families homeschool for non-ideological reasons and that those children should not be punished by exclusion.

Ed Embar said the district would present a revised version of policy 2431 for first reading at the board's March meeting that mirrors the administration27s recommendation and the language of regulation 9270.

Board members and administrators emphasized that this decision reflected the district's current structure and capacity rather than a permanent prohibition on reconsideration. Several trustees suggested that if the district's program design or resources materially changed, the board could reconsider the policy.

The board did not take a formal roll-call vote recorded in the public transcript at the time of the discussion; trustees stated their positions verbally and the president announced a majority supported the administration27s recommendation. The transcript records that the amended policy will appear for first reading in March.