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09-16-2014, 05:18 AM
What does everyone think about the proposal allowing home school students and students who attend a non public school who doesn't offer a sport to play in their district of residence for middle and high school?
Below is what Julian Tackett had to say about it.
“Following the announcement of the bill introduced by Representative Stan Lee (R-Lexington) on Tuesday, our office has received a number of phone calls and emails from media members seeking comment. While this bill was originally reported as a measure to allow home schooled children to play athletics at the middle and high school level, the actual details are much more impactful to education-based athletics and its impact much more pervasive on our member schools. As it is currently drafted, the bill would fundamentally alter high school athletics in the state, as it would allow all nonpublic school student-athletes to attend a nonpublic school and yet compete for public schools at their discretion, if the school in which they are attending (including home school) didn’t offer a specific extracurricular activity.
This proposed act is particularly different from past acts, as it appears to offer a blanket opportunity for any nonpublic school to have its students participate in school-based sports at another school. For example, a strict read would appear to allow a student at Sayre to participate in football in their district of residence. This is much more than just a home school proposal. It should also be noted, that KHSAA guidelines only apply to high school students. Situations involving middle school students are decided at the local level.
As Representative Lee stated in his public comments, there is ample time before this bill begins to work its way through consideration and the legislative process. We certainly look forward to and welcome the discussion of this topic with Rep. Lee and all other members of the General Assembly, as well as our constituents and the KHSAA Board of Control, as we all work together for what is best for students in our Commonwealth.”
Below is what Julian Tackett had to say about it.
“Following the announcement of the bill introduced by Representative Stan Lee (R-Lexington) on Tuesday, our office has received a number of phone calls and emails from media members seeking comment. While this bill was originally reported as a measure to allow home schooled children to play athletics at the middle and high school level, the actual details are much more impactful to education-based athletics and its impact much more pervasive on our member schools. As it is currently drafted, the bill would fundamentally alter high school athletics in the state, as it would allow all nonpublic school student-athletes to attend a nonpublic school and yet compete for public schools at their discretion, if the school in which they are attending (including home school) didn’t offer a specific extracurricular activity.
This proposed act is particularly different from past acts, as it appears to offer a blanket opportunity for any nonpublic school to have its students participate in school-based sports at another school. For example, a strict read would appear to allow a student at Sayre to participate in football in their district of residence. This is much more than just a home school proposal. It should also be noted, that KHSAA guidelines only apply to high school students. Situations involving middle school students are decided at the local level.
As Representative Lee stated in his public comments, there is ample time before this bill begins to work its way through consideration and the legislative process. We certainly look forward to and welcome the discussion of this topic with Rep. Lee and all other members of the General Assembly, as well as our constituents and the KHSAA Board of Control, as we all work together for what is best for students in our Commonwealth.”
-Julian Tackett
KHSAA Commissioner
KHSAA Commissioner
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09-16-2014, 06:01 AM
Lexington legislator's bill would let homeschool and private-school students play sports at public schools
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/17/33845...rylink=cpy
A bill prefiled this month in Kentucky's General Assembly is not the first that state Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, has introduced to allow homeschooled children to participate in athletics at public middle and high schools.
But Kentucky High School Athletic Association Commissioner Julian Tackett said the legislation for 2015 "would fundamentally alter high school athletics in the state."
Under the bill, if a nonpublic school — including a homeschool — does not offer a sport, a student would be eligible to participate in the activity at a public school. The public school would be one to which the student would ordinarily be assigned if the student were not enrolled in private school or homeschooled.
The bill is "particularly different from past acts, as it appears to offer a blanket opportunity for any nonpublic school to have its students participate in school-based sports at another school," Tackett said in a statement. "The actual details are much more impactful to education-based athletics and its impact much more pervasive on our member schools."
The KHSAA has opposed similar bills in the past.
In an interview, Tackett said that some smaller private schools might decide not to offer athletics if such a law were passed.
"They could still promote the benefits of the smaller classroom ... and never have to have the expense of sports, because kids could play where they live," he said.
Tackett also mentioned the impact that the legislation, if it passed, could have on a student at the Lexington private school Sayre. Sayre doesn't offer high school football, so students who attend Sayre could be eligible to play football at public high schools.
Sayre Athletics Director Erik Johnson said Friday that having Sayre students going elsewhere and not playing the sports that Sayre offers could diminish the school's sense of community.
Johnson said the school needs all of its students to field competitive teams in the sports that it does offer.
Under the legislation, student athletes wanting to play at a public school would have to provide their own transportation rather than have the district incur extra costs and would have to comply with all standards set by the public school, academic and physical, under the proposed legislation.
"They still have to try out," Lee said in an interview.
Lee said similar homeschool legislation has been unsuccessful in Kentucky in the past, but at least 26 states have some version of the legislation he is proposing for 2015.
"This is not about any political statement about public schools or private schools," Lee said. "This is just children that want to play sports."
He said he filed legislation after hearing from the mother of a homeschooled boy who wanted to play football at a public middle school but was not allowed.
Lee said he and his wife homeschool their daughter. Parents of homeschooled children and public school children "all pay the same taxes," Lee said.
Linda Denny, a Lexington mother who homeschools her two children, said some homeschool parents think it is reasonable to ask that their children be allowed to play public school sports because they pay taxes.
Denny said that among her fellow homeschool parents, "there are a lot of people who would like to have sports opportunities for their children."
Denny is in favor of the bill but doesn't know whether her children would play sports at a public school if it were allowed.
Meanwhile, Tackett said one concern about allowing homeschool students to play at public schools is that there is no means of comparing their academic performance with that of students in public schools. That extends not only to grades, but to requirements for a student-athlete to be enrolled full-time, which is four hours of a six-hour instructional day, he said.
Another concern is that public schools would have to spend money on the private school or homeschool students.
Tackett said KHSAA officials want to make sure that any change to the law would be "competitively fair" for all students.
"There's plenty of time for discussion," Tackett said. "We're more than willing to meet with Stan."
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/17/33845...rylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/17/33845...rylink=cpy
A bill prefiled this month in Kentucky's General Assembly is not the first that state Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, has introduced to allow homeschooled children to participate in athletics at public middle and high schools.
But Kentucky High School Athletic Association Commissioner Julian Tackett said the legislation for 2015 "would fundamentally alter high school athletics in the state."
Under the bill, if a nonpublic school — including a homeschool — does not offer a sport, a student would be eligible to participate in the activity at a public school. The public school would be one to which the student would ordinarily be assigned if the student were not enrolled in private school or homeschooled.
The bill is "particularly different from past acts, as it appears to offer a blanket opportunity for any nonpublic school to have its students participate in school-based sports at another school," Tackett said in a statement. "The actual details are much more impactful to education-based athletics and its impact much more pervasive on our member schools."
The KHSAA has opposed similar bills in the past.
In an interview, Tackett said that some smaller private schools might decide not to offer athletics if such a law were passed.
"They could still promote the benefits of the smaller classroom ... and never have to have the expense of sports, because kids could play where they live," he said.
Tackett also mentioned the impact that the legislation, if it passed, could have on a student at the Lexington private school Sayre. Sayre doesn't offer high school football, so students who attend Sayre could be eligible to play football at public high schools.
Sayre Athletics Director Erik Johnson said Friday that having Sayre students going elsewhere and not playing the sports that Sayre offers could diminish the school's sense of community.
Johnson said the school needs all of its students to field competitive teams in the sports that it does offer.
Under the legislation, student athletes wanting to play at a public school would have to provide their own transportation rather than have the district incur extra costs and would have to comply with all standards set by the public school, academic and physical, under the proposed legislation.
"They still have to try out," Lee said in an interview.
Lee said similar homeschool legislation has been unsuccessful in Kentucky in the past, but at least 26 states have some version of the legislation he is proposing for 2015.
"This is not about any political statement about public schools or private schools," Lee said. "This is just children that want to play sports."
He said he filed legislation after hearing from the mother of a homeschooled boy who wanted to play football at a public middle school but was not allowed.
Lee said he and his wife homeschool their daughter. Parents of homeschooled children and public school children "all pay the same taxes," Lee said.
Linda Denny, a Lexington mother who homeschools her two children, said some homeschool parents think it is reasonable to ask that their children be allowed to play public school sports because they pay taxes.
Denny said that among her fellow homeschool parents, "there are a lot of people who would like to have sports opportunities for their children."
Denny is in favor of the bill but doesn't know whether her children would play sports at a public school if it were allowed.
Meanwhile, Tackett said one concern about allowing homeschool students to play at public schools is that there is no means of comparing their academic performance with that of students in public schools. That extends not only to grades, but to requirements for a student-athlete to be enrolled full-time, which is four hours of a six-hour instructional day, he said.
Another concern is that public schools would have to spend money on the private school or homeschool students.
Tackett said KHSAA officials want to make sure that any change to the law would be "competitively fair" for all students.
"There's plenty of time for discussion," Tackett said. "We're more than willing to meet with Stan."
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/17/33845...rylink=cpy
09-16-2014, 01:48 PM
Will this include kids home schooled in Canada??
nicker:
nicker:
09-16-2014, 01:53 PM
I can foresee this if it happens, as a tool that someone will figure out a way to manipulate eligiblity for a particular sport. Just wait and see how many will claim they are "home schooled"
09-16-2014, 01:54 PM
What if I don't have any kids? I pay the same taxes. Can I get my money back?
If homeschoolers want to play EXTRA-curriculars then participate in the curriculum!!
If this passes it will open a MAJOR can of worms.
If the school you are at doesn't offer a sport, transfer to one that does. Kids do it all the time. The purpose of schools is not to provide every athletic opportunity a kid desires.
If homeschoolers want to play EXTRA-curriculars then participate in the curriculum!!
If this passes it will open a MAJOR can of worms.
If the school you are at doesn't offer a sport, transfer to one that does. Kids do it all the time. The purpose of schools is not to provide every athletic opportunity a kid desires.
09-16-2014, 01:57 PM
Everybody has their own ideas on how their kids should be raised. If certain parents think that their kids will do better being home schooled, then so be it.
But that doesn't mean that they should be able to play sports at a public school.
So does this mean a kid living in Fayette County that is home schooled could play football for Henry Clay in the fall, play basketball for Lafayette in the winter then play baseball for Tates Creek in the spring?? And not be subject to the same transfer rules as student athletes who aren't home schooled....
But that doesn't mean that they should be able to play sports at a public school.
So does this mean a kid living in Fayette County that is home schooled could play football for Henry Clay in the fall, play basketball for Lafayette in the winter then play baseball for Tates Creek in the spring?? And not be subject to the same transfer rules as student athletes who aren't home schooled....
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09-16-2014, 02:09 PM
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09-16-2014, 02:35 PM
Families of home school students pay property taxes designated for the government run schools just as do families of government school students. In return, they receive nothing. Now, you can argue that they can attend the government schools and "benefit" from their tax dollars but that is clearly a matter of opinion.
On the other hand, as a former private school parent, as a supporter of private schools, and as a lawyer, I would be not be in favor of this bill. To allow participation would serve to attach that infamous "string" to, at least, partial government interference with the private education process. Such "strings" usually bring various levels of government control and regulation.
When one chooses a private school or home schooling, it is usually to avoid the numerous problems and the secular humanist "atmosphere" of the government schools. In such cases, there are sacrifices. Athletic participation may well be one such sacrifice.
My advice, as one who has been closely involved with the related issues for many years, is to leave the rules as they are at present and keep the government out of our chosen mode of educating our youth.
On the other hand, as a former private school parent, as a supporter of private schools, and as a lawyer, I would be not be in favor of this bill. To allow participation would serve to attach that infamous "string" to, at least, partial government interference with the private education process. Such "strings" usually bring various levels of government control and regulation.
When one chooses a private school or home schooling, it is usually to avoid the numerous problems and the secular humanist "atmosphere" of the government schools. In such cases, there are sacrifices. Athletic participation may well be one such sacrifice.
My advice, as one who has been closely involved with the related issues for many years, is to leave the rules as they are at present and keep the government out of our chosen mode of educating our youth.
09-16-2014, 03:29 PM
The only problem I have with your post Harry is that they receive "nothing" for their tax donation. They receive a government provided school in their area. Is that school as beneficial as it can possibly be? Depends on the area you live. In my area the school is the center of attention year round. It is the #1 employer. It also helps create and keep jobs. If it wasn't for my HS sports our newspaper would go under. Also athletic gear sold by a local dealer would go under if it wasn't for people buying gear to support the school. Also our local restaurants benefit from increased business during athletic events.
I know this may not be the case everywhere. But it is here. So I don't believe that taxpayers receive "nothing" for their contribution.
Otherwise, I agree 100% with everything you wrote.
I know this may not be the case everywhere. But it is here. So I don't believe that taxpayers receive "nothing" for their contribution.
Otherwise, I agree 100% with everything you wrote.
09-16-2014, 04:07 PM
We need to stop trying to legislate athletics and education, it ends up in a mess everytime.
09-17-2014, 02:49 AM
If people don't want their kids in school, they should not allow them to play sports at the school. Why do people home-school anyway? I would be interested in knowing why anyone would do that. When those little special kiddies become adults, they will have to work with others. Maybe they will work from home. If not, there will be a lack of social skills and a shock when they are faced with the real world.
09-19-2014, 07:24 PM
These Family's who pay taxes have a choice to put there kids in a school. Therefore no one is denying them the opportunity to play. KKSAA stands for Kentucky High School Athletic Association. There is absolutely no reason why home school kids should be allowed on a "High School" team. I think its insane its even being considered.
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