Washington Township board directs administration to draft policy allowing homeschooled high school athletes

The Washington Township School District board on Tuesday voted to direct administration to draft a policy to permit homeschooled students to participate in high school athletics, setting the stage for a future first reading rather than an immediate change.

The board’s discussion centered on how far to open extracurricular participation and how to protect the safety and eligibility standards that apply to district-enrolled students. "These programs should be a privilege that is awarded to our students in our public district school," said a board member who read an email opposing wider access, citing concerns about supervision, access to school facilities, and enforcement of grade, drug-testing and discipline rules. "There is no way to follow these areas for a homeschooled student," she said.

Supporters urged inclusion with safeguards. A different board member argued that homeschooled children are part of the same community and taxpayers, and that the district should craft rules to allow them to try out and meet the same eligibility requirements as enrolled students.

Superintendent Dr. Hibbs, who has discussed the idea with coaches, recommended limiting any initial change to athletics to avoid administrative overload. He said he had spoken to coaches and legal advisers and suggested starting with sports while the district considers whether and how to extend participation to other extracurricular programs. "I think the logical starting point would be sports, and then we could regroup for everything else," Hibbs said.

Board member S8 moved "we amend the homeschooling policy to allow homeschool students to participate in high school sports," and a second followed. After discussion, the board voted to instruct administration to prepare a draft policy for a first reading; the motion did not itself adopt a new policy that night.

The next step is for district administration to draft specific eligibility and safety language and return it to the board for review and formal first reading. The board emphasized that any final policy will need to spell out discipline, tryout, and facility-access rules and that private-school students were not included in the proposed change.

The draft will return to the board for its formal review process, including committee consideration and subsequent readings before any policy takes effect.