11/20/18-Revisions, Clarifications and Reminders about Students Practicing/Playing While Ineligible

November 20, 2018 Obsolete

At the 2018 KHSAA Annual Meeting, the membership approved several changes to the bylaws regarding eligibility which the staff will begin to work through the promulgation process mandated by the legislature in the coming weeks. We are hopeful that these changes will be adopted and implemented for final inclusion in the 2019-20 Handbook sometime early next summer. This communication relates ONLY to Proposal 2018-03. Any changes contained in 2018-01, 2018-02 and 2018-04 will need final legislative approval in the spring of 2019 before implementation.

One of the approved changes was contained in Proposal 2018-03, which is detailed on page two of the document at https://khsaa.org/annualmeeting/20182019/annualmeetingproposals.pdf. This change would place into the regulation the provision that it is school choice as to whether a student with a pending ruling (original or appeal) could be allowed to practice with the team (including scrimmages). This change was part regulatory and part interpretation, as the provisions restricting such play were originally contained in interpretations.

THE FOLLOWING NOTICE AND RULING SUPERSEDES ANY AND ALL PRIOR INTERPRETATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN IN PERSON OR VIA PHONE, ELECTRONIC MAIL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION. The relevant revisions are in the lines related to Bylaws 6, 7 and 8. Please ensure that this is shared with all relevant parties. This information is also in a downloadable PDF at /handbook/bylaws/bylaw14.pdf

The table below represents a summary of various decision points schools may have (or may not have) when dealing with a student who is ineligible per KHSAA Bylaws or adopted policies that have been approved through the regulatory process. The column on the left represents the reason a student is ineligible, and the columns on the right address whether or not the schools have any decision in the matter if state regulations supersede local decision making. Local schools and Boards of Education should ensure that the proper group (School-Based Decision Making or Local Boards) has addressed the discretionary issues as noted by “School Determination”.