Florida Senate - 2025                       CS for CS for SB 248
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Judiciary; and Education Pre-K - 12; and
       Senator Simon
       
       
       
       
       590-02600-25                                           2025248c2
    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.; providing that an
    5         activity or a sport must meet specified requirements;
    6         specifying conditions for a home education student to
    7         participate in interscholastic athletics; revising the
    8         criteria a private school student must meet to
    9         participate in a sport at a Florida High School
   10         Athletic Association (FHSAA) member school; deleting a
   11         provision limiting which non-FHSAA member private
   12         school students are eligible to participate in FHSAA
   13         sports; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Subsection (2), paragraph (c) of subsection (3),
   18  and paragraphs (a), (e), and (g) of subsection (8) of section
   19  1006.15, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   20         1006.15 Student standards for participation in
   21  interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular student
   22  activities; regulation.—
   23         (2) Interscholastic extracurricular student activities are
   24  an important complement to the academic curriculum.
   25  Participation in a comprehensive extracurricular and academic
   26  program contributes to student development of the social and
   27  intellectual skills necessary to become a well-rounded adult. As
   28  used in this section, the term “extracurricular” means any
   29  school-authorized or education-related activity occurring during
   30  or outside the regular instructional school day. In the
   31  determination of whether a school offers an activity or a sport,
   32  the activity or sport must meet the designation requirements of
   33  s. 1006.205(3)(a).
   34         (3)
   35         (c)1. An individual home education student is eligible to
   36  participate at the public school to which the student would be
   37  assigned according to district school board attendance area
   38  policies or which the student could choose to attend pursuant to
   39  s. 1002.31, or may develop an agreement to participate at a
   40  private school, in the interscholastic extracurricular
   41  activities of that school, provided the following conditions are
   42  met:
   43         a.1. The home education student must meet the requirements
   44  of the home education program pursuant to s. 1002.41.
   45         b.2. During the period of participation at a school, the
   46  home education student must demonstrate educational progress as
   47  required in paragraph (b) in all subjects taken in the home
   48  education program by a method of evaluation agreed upon by the
   49  parent and the school principal which may include: review of the
   50  student’s work by a certified teacher chosen by the parent;
   51  grades earned through correspondence; grades earned in courses
   52  taken at a Florida College System institution, university, or
   53  trade school; standardized test scores above the 35th
   54  percentile; or any other method designated in s. 1002.41.
   55         c.3. The home education student must meet the same
   56  residency requirements as other students in the school at which
   57  he or she participates.
   58         d.4. The home education student must meet the same
   59  standards of acceptance, behavior, and performance as required
   60  of other students in extracurricular activities.
   61         e.5. The student must register with the school his or her
   62  intent to participate in interscholastic extracurricular
   63  activities as a representative of the school before
   64  participation. A home education student must be able to
   65  participate in curricular activities if that is a requirement
   66  for an extracurricular activity.
   67         f.6. A student who transfers from a home education program
   68  to a public school before or during the first grading period of
   69  the school year is academically eligible to participate in
   70  interscholastic extracurricular activities during the first
   71  grading period provided the student has a successful evaluation
   72  from the previous school year, pursuant to sub-subparagraph b.
   73  subparagraph 2.
   74         g.7. Any public school or private school student who has
   75  been unable to maintain academic eligibility for participation
   76  in interscholastic extracurricular activities is ineligible to
   77  participate in such activities as a home education student until
   78  the student has successfully completed one grading period in
   79  home education pursuant to sub-subparagraph b. subparagraph 2.
   80  to become eligible to participate as a home education student.
   81         2. An individual home education student is eligible to
   82  participate on an interscholastic athletic team at any public
   83  school in the school district in which the student resides,
   84  provided the student meets the conditions specified in sub
   85  subparagraphs a. through g.
   86         (8)(a) The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA)
   87  shall, in cooperation with each district school board and its
   88  member private schools, facilitate a program in which a middle
   89  school or high school student who attends a private school is
   90  eligible to participate in an interscholastic or intrascholastic
   91  sport at a member public high school, a member public middle
   92  school, a member 6-12 public school, or a member private school,
   93  as appropriate for the private school student’s grade level, if:
   94         1. The private school in which the student is enrolled is
   95  not a member of the FHSAA or the private school in which the
   96  student is enrolled is a member of the FHSAA and does not offer
   97  the sport in which the student wishes to participate.
   98         2. The private school student meets the guidelines for the
   99  conduct of the program established by the FHSAA’s board of
  100  directors and the district school board or member private
  101  school. At a minimum, such guidelines must provide a deadline
  102  for each sport by which the private school student’s parents
  103  must register with the member school in writing their intent for
  104  their child to participate at that school in the sport.
  105         (e) Any non-FHSAA member private school that has a student
  106  who wishes to participate in this program must make all student
  107  records, including, but not limited to, academic, financial,
  108  disciplinary, and attendance records, available upon request of
  109  the FHSAA.
  110         (g)Only students who are enrolled in non-FHSAA member
  111  private schools consisting of 200 students or fewer are eligible
  112  to participate in the program in any given academic year.
  113         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.