Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Athletics topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Policy change follows PIAA ruling to let resident private, charter and homeschooled students play for home public schools
Summary
The committee reviewed revisions to Policy 119 aligning district rules with a PIAA settlement: resident students who attend private, charter, cyber or homeschooled programs may participate in a public school's sport when their home school lacks that sport; the committee also discussed adding weekly grade checks to restore eligibility more quickly.
The policy committee reviewed updates to Policy 119 on interscholastic athletics that reflect a PIAA rule change and a locally requested eligibility adjustment. Elizabeth Satler explained that a recent PIAA settlement with private schools compelled the association and local districts to permit resident private-school students whose own schools lack particular sports to participate on their public home-school teams; that change was later extended to include private schools regardless of religious affiliation and to other nonpublic settings such as cyber programs.
Satler said the district added explicit language to permit resident students enrolled in private schools, charter schools, cyber schools and homeschooled programs to join home-school athletic teams "according to applicable law." The committee also discussed an eligibility procedure change requested by Dr. Golden: issuing a weekly grade check for students with low GPAs so they can demonstrate improved grades and regain eligibility faster than waiting for a delayed interim report card.
Board members debated the equity implications. Director Diodi praised the weekly grade-check as a tool to keep at-risk students engaged, saying athletics can be the reason some students remain in school. Other directors raised concerns that public resources (transportation, uniforms, staff time) could be used to support students who do not attend district schools; Satler said those operational details (transportation, uniform provision) would be handled at the administrative level and by applicable law.
No vote was taken at the workshop; Satler said the policy will be posted for the 30-day review period and could appear for board action in April.
