Senate passes bill creating athletic conference realignment committee

The Iowa Senate on the floor approved House File 783, substituting it for Senate File 446, to require athletic associations to establish a conference realignment committee to resolve school requests for conference affiliation and to recommend alternatives if a request is rejected.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Salmon, senator from Bremer, told the chamber the measure grew out of problems in his and a neighboring senator’s districts involving Waverly-Shell Rock and Decorah high schools being denied membership in requested conferences under the Department of Education’s current mediation process. "They have not been directed to an appropriate satisfactory alternative con status, which reduces the competitive opportunities available to their students for extracurricular learning and awards," Salmon said. "What the bill does is, require the athletic associations to establish a conference realignment committee that will direct reasonable conference affiliation between school districts, if schools request it."

The bill requires the committee to consider current and projected high school enrollment, travel distance between high schools, comparability of instructional and athletic programs, traditional rivalries, the number of high schools in a conference and how adding a school would affect all schools involved. The committee must recommend an alternative conference or permit a school to be independent if it rejects a request. Schools may appeal the committee’s decision to the director of the Department of Education. "The committee shall consist of 18 members, 9 superintendents from different geographical areas of the state, and 9 athletic directors from different geographical areas of the state. A quorum shall be 10 members, and they shall elect a chair," Salmon said.

Senator Walz, senator from Johnson, asked for more background about how schools arrived in the situation described; Salmon said some districts recently grew and now sit between class sizes ("too big for 3A and too small for 4A"), creating scheduling and competitive problems for athletic directors and students. In closing remarks, Salmon summarized the bill’s practical effect: "The biggest change from the current process is that if a school were to be rejected, the committee is to recommend an alternative conference alignment that would be a better fit instead of just leaving a district to keep applying without any indication they have a chance. This is to ensure schools are not forced into an independent status and that students have competitive opportunities for extracurricular learning and awards."

The Senate adopted Senate amendment 3039 to Senate File 446 and then, by unanimous consent, substituted House File 783 for Senate File 446. The measure was read for final passage and passed on a roll call the chamber recorded as 47 ayes and 1 nay. Following passage, Senator Salmon asked unanimous consent to withdraw Senate File 446; the request was granted.

The bill specifies committee composition, a quorum rule, expedited implementation of committee decisions, and an appeal path to the Department of Education director. The record does not specify implementation dates or which athletic association(s) will administer the committee beyond the statutory language in the bill. The sponsor described the problem as having emerged within the last two to three years in affected districts.