WEST virginia legislature
2017 regular session
ENROLLED
for
By Delegates
Ellington, Gearheart and Overington
[
AN
ACT to amend and reenact §18-2-25 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, relating to the Secondary Schools Athletic Commission; participation
by home school, private and parochial school students without an interscholastic
program available; providing that the private and parochial schools must be
registered; setting forth standards for each nonenrolled student participant to
meet; providing that each home school, private or parochial student pay the
same fees associated with participation as public school students; and
providing that the state board accumulate data as to the costs associated with
the nonenrolled students participating in interscholastic activities.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2-25 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-25. Authority of county boards to regulate
athletic and other extracurricular activities of secondary schools; delegation
of authority to West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission; authority
of commission; approval of rules by state board; incorporation; funds;
participation by private and parochial schools and by home schooled students.
(a) The
county boards of education shall exercise control, supervision and regulation
of all interscholastic athletic events, and other extracurricular activities of
the students in public secondary schools, and of those public schools of their
respective counties. The county board of
education may delegate control, supervision and regulation of interscholastic
athletic events and band activities to the West Virginia Secondary School
Activities Commission.
(b) The West
Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission is composed of the principals,
or their representatives, of those secondary schools whose county boards of
education have certified in writing to the state superintendent of Schools that
they have elected to delegate the control, supervision and regulation of their
interscholastic athletic events and band activities of the students in the
public secondary schools in their respective counties to the commission. The West Virginia Secondary School Activities
Commission may exercise the control, supervision and regulation of
interscholastic athletic events and band activities of secondary schools,
delegated to it pursuant to this section.
The rules of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission
shall contain a provision for a proper review procedure and review board and be
promulgated in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code, but are, in all instances subject to the prior approval of the state
board. The West Virginia Secondary
School Activities Commission, may, with the consent of the State Board of
Education, incorporate under the name of "West Virginia Secondary School
Activities Commission, Inc.," as a nonprofit, nonstock corporation under
the provisions of chapter thirty-one of this code. County boards of education may expend moneys
for and pay dues to the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission,
and all moneys paid to the commission, as well as moneys derived from any
contest or other event sponsored by the commission, are quasi-public funds as
defined in article five, chapter eighteen, and the funds of the commission are
subject to an annual audit by the State Tax Commissioner.
(c) The West
Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission shall promulgate reasonable
rules providing for the control, supervision and regulation of the
interscholastic athletic events and other extracurricular activities of private
and parochial secondary schools that elect to delegate to the commission
control, supervision and regulation, upon the same terms and conditions,
subject to the same regulations and requirements and upon the payment of the
same fees and charges as those provided for public secondary schools. Any such private or parochial secondary
school shall receive any monetary or other benefits in the same manner and in
the same proportion as any public secondary school.
(d) Notwithstanding
any other provision of this section or the commission's rules, the commission shall consider eligible for
participation in interscholastic activities of secondary schools a student who
is receiving home instruction pursuant to subsection (c), section one, article
eight, chapter eighteen of this code along with students who are enrolled in a registered private or
parochial school that does not have interscholastic programs and who:
(1) Has
demonstrated satisfactory evidence of academic progress for two years in
compliance with the provisions of that subsection; Provided, That:
(A) The home school student’s average test
results are within or above the fourth stanine in all subject areas, and;
(B)
The private or parochial school students meet the same academic and attendance
requirements of public school students.
(2) Has not
reached the age of nineteen by August 1 of the current school year;
(3) Is an
amateur who receives no compensation, but participates solely for the
educational, physical, mental and social benefits of the activity;
(4) Agrees
to comply with all disciplinary rules and regulations of the West
Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission and the county board in which
the home-schooled, private or parochial student lives, applicable to all
other athletes and activity participants; and
(5) Agrees
to obey all rules of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission
governing awards, all-star games, parental consents, physical examinations and
vaccinations applicable to all high school athletes.
Eligibility
is limited to participation in interscholastic programs at the public secondary,
private or parochial school serving the attendance zone in which the student
lives: Provided, That home school,
private or parochial students who leave a member school during the school year
shall be subject to the same transfer protocols that apply to member-to-member
transfers. Homeschool, private,
and parochial school students participating in interscholastic programs shall
be required to pay the same amount that public school students pay when participating
in these programs.
One
year following the effective date of this bill, the West Virginia State Board
of Education shall determine the additional costs, on a per student basis, of
non-enrolled students participating in interscholastic programs, and shall make
recommendations to the Legislature regarding how the costs of these
non-enrolled students have affected the school aid formula.