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Bill Would Allow Non-Public Students to Participate on Public School Teams
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 18, 2013
A proposed legislative bill announced last Friday by Wisconsin State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) would mandate that students enrolled in a charter school, home school environment, or a virtual school be allowed to participate in interscholastic activities at the public school for the district in which they reside.
Current WIAA rules prohibit home-schooled or virtual school students from participating in athletics at another school.
The bill, LRB 2032/3, would also mandate that students enrolled in a private school who wish to participate in a sport not currently offered by their current school would be allowed to participate on their home public school team.
So for example, if a student at Winnebago Lutheran wanted to play hockey, since the school doesn’t currently offer it, if they resided in Fond du Lac they could play on the Fondy hockey team without Winnebago Lutheran having to enter into a co-op agreement.
According to Thiesfeldt, the purpose behind the bill is to allow all students interested in taking part in interscholastic athletics the opportunity to do so.
A former teacher at Lutheran schools for 22 years, including 15 years in Wisconsin, Thiesfeldt spent several years teaching and coaching at Winnebago Lutheran in the past.
Thiesfeldt indicated that he did not consult with the WIAA prior to developing the legislation, and they were not made aware of it until this morning. He will seek co-sponsors in the coming days and hopes to advance it to the committee process in the next few weeks, with a goal of passage and implementation for the 2014 season.
According to Thiesfeldt, the bill would bring Wisconsin in line with others around the country, as approximately half of the states have a similar law currently.
The full text of the proposed legislation can be found below. Please contact the SAA with any concerns you may have about this bill draft.
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