Florida Senate - 2025                              CS for SB 248
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Simon
       
       
       
       
       
       581-02301-25                                           2025248c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to student participation in
    3         interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular
    4         sports; amending s. 1006.15, F.S.; specifying
    5         conditions for a home education student to participate
    6         in interscholastic athletics; revising the criteria a
    7         private school student must meet to participate in a
    8         sport at a Florida High School Athletic Association
    9         (FHSAA) member school; deleting a provision limiting
   10         which non-FHSAA member private school students are
   11         eligible to participate in FHSAA sports; providing an
   12         effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) and paragraphs
   17  (a), (e), and (g) of subsection (8) of section 1006.15, Florida
   18  Statutes, are amended to read:
   19         1006.15 Student standards for participation in
   20  interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular student
   21  activities; regulation.—
   22         (3)
   23         (c)1. An individual home education student is eligible to
   24  participate at the public school to which the student would be
   25  assigned according to district school board attendance area
   26  policies or which the student could choose to attend pursuant to
   27  s. 1002.31, or may develop an agreement to participate at a
   28  private school, in the interscholastic extracurricular
   29  activities of that school, provided the following conditions are
   30  met:
   31         a.1. The home education student must meet the requirements
   32  of the home education program pursuant to s. 1002.41.
   33         b.2. During the period of participation at a school, the
   34  home education student must demonstrate educational progress as
   35  required in paragraph (b) in all subjects taken in the home
   36  education program by a method of evaluation agreed upon by the
   37  parent and the school principal which may include: review of the
   38  student’s work by a certified teacher chosen by the parent;
   39  grades earned through correspondence; grades earned in courses
   40  taken at a Florida College System institution, university, or
   41  trade school; standardized test scores above the 35th
   42  percentile; or any other method designated in s. 1002.41.
   43         c.3. The home education student must meet the same
   44  residency requirements as other students in the school at which
   45  he or she participates.
   46         d.4. The home education student must meet the same
   47  standards of acceptance, behavior, and performance as required
   48  of other students in extracurricular activities.
   49         e.5. The student must register with the school his or her
   50  intent to participate in interscholastic extracurricular
   51  activities as a representative of the school before
   52  participation. A home education student must be able to
   53  participate in curricular activities if that is a requirement
   54  for an extracurricular activity.
   55         f.6. A student who transfers from a home education program
   56  to a public school before or during the first grading period of
   57  the school year is academically eligible to participate in
   58  interscholastic extracurricular activities during the first
   59  grading period provided the student has a successful evaluation
   60  from the previous school year, pursuant to sub-subparagraph b.
   61  subparagraph 2.
   62         g.7. Any public school or private school student who has
   63  been unable to maintain academic eligibility for participation
   64  in interscholastic extracurricular activities is ineligible to
   65  participate in such activities as a home education student until
   66  the student has successfully completed one grading period in
   67  home education pursuant to sub-subparagraph b. subparagraph 2.
   68  to become eligible to participate as a home education student.
   69         2. An individual home education student is eligible to
   70  participate on an interscholastic athletic team at any public
   71  school in the school district in which the student resides,
   72  provided the student meets the conditions specified in sub
   73  subparagraphs a. through g.
   74         (8)(a) The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA)
   75  shall, in cooperation with each district school board and its
   76  member private schools, facilitate a program in which a middle
   77  school or high school student who attends a private school is
   78  eligible to participate in an interscholastic or intrascholastic
   79  sport at a member public high school, a member public middle
   80  school, a member 6-12 public school, or a member private school,
   81  as appropriate for the private school student’s grade level, if:
   82         1. The private school in which the student is enrolled is
   83  not a member of the FHSAA or the private school in which the
   84  student is enrolled is a member of the FHSAA and does not offer
   85  the sport in which the student wishes to participate.
   86         2. The private school student meets the guidelines for the
   87  conduct of the program established by the FHSAA’s board of
   88  directors and the district school board or member private
   89  school. At a minimum, such guidelines must provide a deadline
   90  for each sport by which the private school student’s parents
   91  must register with the member school in writing their intent for
   92  their child to participate at that school in the sport.
   93         (e) Any non-FHSAA member private school that has a student
   94  who wishes to participate in this program must make all student
   95  records, including, but not limited to, academic, financial,
   96  disciplinary, and attendance records, available upon request of
   97  the FHSAA.
   98         (g)Only students who are enrolled in non-FHSAA member
   99  private schools consisting of 200 students or fewer are eligible
  100  to participate in the program in any given academic year.
  101         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.