02-27-2008, 02:58 PM
This bill is nothing more than removing the attendance restriction public schools had on who can participate in school activities. The restrictions were originally enacted to prevent ringers with no academic connection to a school from being part of a competitive group. The scandals of the early 90’s mandated that schools establish strict academic & attendance requirements for a student to be eligible for participation in activities. Even cheerleading squads were found to be made up of students from other schools denying that school's student from participating. Schools, even if they had no problem with a home school child attending the poetry club, may have been prohibited unless that child attended a set number of academic classes at the school.
This bill essentially tells the schools they can accept home school children providing that student normally would have attended the school as a student. This prevents a home school student from picking and choosing which activities they would attend at which school.
What this bill fails to address (and may give some student and parent a hard dose of reality) is the issue of activities where an independent organizational body has their own rules. Courts have generally said that although a student can participate in school activities by legislation, these independent organizations still can set their own rules. So if a home school student decides to participate on a school sports team at the school they normally would attend, if the organizational body governing any competitive event has rules, those rules still apply. Take Virginia with it’s five/five rule. If a student is not attending a particular school taking and passing at least five courses at that school, they can not play in competitive sports contest between schools. Try as they may, the Virginia Home School association lost that battle.
So this is nothing but authorizing schools that when it comes to legitimately home school children, treat them like attending student.
This bill essentially tells the schools they can accept home school children providing that student normally would have attended the school as a student. This prevents a home school student from picking and choosing which activities they would attend at which school.
What this bill fails to address (and may give some student and parent a hard dose of reality) is the issue of activities where an independent organizational body has their own rules. Courts have generally said that although a student can participate in school activities by legislation, these independent organizations still can set their own rules. So if a home school student decides to participate on a school sports team at the school they normally would attend, if the organizational body governing any competitive event has rules, those rules still apply. Take Virginia with it’s five/five rule. If a student is not attending a particular school taking and passing at least five courses at that school, they can not play in competitive sports contest between schools. Try as they may, the Virginia Home School association lost that battle.
So this is nothing but authorizing schools that when it comes to legitimately home school children, treat them like attending student.