Senate Bill 1034c1

    Florida Senate - 1999                           CS for SB 1034

    By the Committee on Education and Senator Gutman





    304-2117-99

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to education; amending s.

  3         232.61, F.S.; requiring the Florida High School

  4         Activities Association to adopt specified

  5         bylaws relating to eligibility for

  6         participation in athletic competition for

  7         students who transfer or relocate to another

  8         school; providing an effective date.

  9

10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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12         Section 1.  Section 232.61, Florida Statutes, is

13  amended to read:

14         232.61  Governing organization for athletics; adoption

15  of bylaws.--The organization shall adopt bylaws that, unless

16  specifically provided by statute, establish eligibility

17  requirements for all students who participate in high school

18  athletic competition in its member schools. The bylaws

19  governing residence and transfer shall allow the student to be

20  eligible in the school in which he or she first enrolls each

21  school year, or makes himself or herself a candidate for an

22  athletic team by engaging in a practice prior to enrolling in

23  any member school. The student shall be eligible in that

24  school so long as he or she remains enrolled in that school.

25  Subsequent eligibility shall be determined and enforced

26  through the organization's bylaws. The bylaws governing

27  residence and transfer shall also provide that a student who

28  transfers or relocates to another school is ineligible for

29  participation in athletic competition for a period of 1 year

30  from the date upon which the student's transfer commenced.

31  Students who are transferring to and from private schools, who

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                           CS for SB 1034
    304-2117-99




  1  are transferring to and from home education programs, who are

  2  transferring as a result of the relocation of a parent or

  3  guardian, who are transferring as a result of transfers to or

  4  from public or private schools due to participation in the

  5  opportunity scholarship program, JROTC, or special academic

  6  offerings not available at the previous school, or who are

  7  transferring because of district reassignment due to boundary

  8  changes and alignment shall not be subject to the 1-year

  9  period of ineligibility required by this section. Where the

10  student lives, with whom the student lives, or which school

11  the student attended the previous year shall not be a factor

12  in determining eligibility. The organization shall also adopt

13  bylaws that specifically prohibit the recruiting of students

14  for athletic purposes. The bylaws shall prescribe penalties

15  and an appeals process for athletic recruiting violations.

16         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

17  law.

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19          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
20                             SB 1034

21

22  The Committee Substitute provides a list of exceptions to the
    1-year prohibition against a student's participation in
23  interscholastic athletic activities after transferring to a
    school. It also deletes from the law the provision that where
24  a student lives or with whom the student lives may not be a
    factor in whether or not the student may participate.
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