By Annelise Hanshaw
A pair of bills were debated by the Senate education and workforce development committee aimed at expanding access to activities like sports and clubs to students who are homeschooled.
(Photo- State Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby, proposes a bill to the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee in the Senate Lounge- Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)
“Throughout my elementary school years, I participated in local school and city sponsored activities with my public-school peers,” Jonah Spieker, 16, told the Senate committee. “That came to an abrupt end when I entered the seventh grade. I was cut off from the athletic community that I’ve experienced my whole life.”
He could only play football in his local school’s team if he enrolled in two classes, according to Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) policy.
Spieker’s brother, Zeke, serves as a legislative assistant to Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby, who is sponsoring one of the two bills heard last week that would do away with the two-class requirement.
Her bill seeks to bar schools from mandating more than one class for extracurricular participation. So, under her proposed legislation, a school could require a maximum of one class in grades 6-8 and one half-credit course in grades 9-12 to participate in a team or club.
“[Homeschool families] are involved in the community, participating in activities with other community members. Often, these events are taking place with a local high school,” Carter said. “This all changes when these kids reach seventh grade and MSHSAA takes over.”
Legislation by Sen. Ben Brown, R-Washington, would cut out any course requirements. It seeks to prohibit school districts from joining extracurricular organizations, like MSHSAA, that require students to be enrolled in a class at a school to play on a team or participate in a club.
Brown said the homeschool families pay tax dollars to the school district and should have access to its clubs.
“The school district shall not prohibit the homeschool or full-time virtual school students from participating in athletic and extracurricular programs that are funded in part by their parents’ tax dollars,” he told the Senate committee.
Judah Meredith, a 13-year-old wrestler from Joplin, testified alongside his sibling that he’s heard arguments that there’s plenty of teams separate from schools that he could join.
“In small towns, there are very few of these,” he said. “And they are not usually at the same competitive level as activities through school.”
He is worried about the ability to play sports in college, like his dad did, because he isn’t going to participate on his high school’s team.
Larry Davis, a former superintendent of the Prairie Home School District, recalled a year that MSHSAA’s rules prohibited the seventh grade girls’ basketball team from competing.
He said the team was one player short, and a sixth-grade girl wanted to play. But, MSHSAA wouldn’t allow it.
“According to MSHSAA, it was better for those four students not to have a sport that year than for me to use a sixth grader or heaven forbid a homeschooler,” he said, continuing, “This is the only time in their life they can participate in these kinds of activities.”
No one testified in opposition to the legislation.
Kyna Iman, a lobbyist for the Missouri Alliance for Arts Education testified that sometimes a class can be required during the day for an extracurricular activity in the arts.
“If you want to play in a marching band, you can’t just show up for the Friday night routine,” she said. “So we do think that it is imperative that students attend. It’s a co-curricular class, like marching band class, to learn that routine.”
The committee did not vote on the bills after the hearing.
8 comments:
Buncha snowflakes thinking they get this public school activities stuff for free!
Say NO! to more homskooler welfare!
Well I guess I see it like this, you’re parents or child has choose to be home
schooled, That’s a very clear choice that you don’t want to attend public school and common sense should prevail and realize you don’t get to participate in public school activities . What’s next you want the school district to provide breakfast and lunch for home schoolers. I’m all for home schooling but you have to take the good with the bad. Choices have consequences, good or bad but ultimately it’s your choice. Schools require grades be at a certain level, will the parent in-force this a few maybe.
Leave your participation medals at home please.
I'd like to remind everyone that homeschool families PAY just as much as public school families, to the district. The ONLY difference is the district doesn't get the Fed money for the students enrollment. Maybe the State should let homeschool families opt out of the Real and Personal Property taxes that they are paying to the district. That is, if letting homeschool students be involved in extracurriculars is so horrifying. Let the REEEEEEEing begin.
1:04 PM - Your argument about homeschool families PAYING just as much as public school families to the district and should be able to opt out of real & property taxes (IS VERY HOLLOW). With your logic - taxpayers who don't have any children in the school district - and taxpayers whose children have graduated and no longer are going to school in the district - should be allowed to opt out of real & property taxes.
@7:34 I wasn't as specific as I should have been. First off, they wouldn't be able to opt out of the other taxes regarding Personal and Real, only those paid to the district. Second, they could opt out ONLY while homeschooling. The bottom line is, just let them do extracurriculars. No financial harm comes to the district (it actually would improve finances among clubs and such) and all of our community's children can be involved. What is the harm?
@5:01 They've paid their money. No one is asking for anything, for free.
Real uhmerrycans fail to understand that if the student is enrolled in a public school, the student needs to actually attend school and remain in good standing with respect to both academics and disciplinary issues to participate in extracurriculars.
Homskoolerzs by choice don't do the public achool curriculars, so therefore they have not earned the chance to participate in public school activities. No public school = no public school extracurriculars for them!
The homskoolerz parents can set up their own extracurriculars and then their homskoolerz can get all the awards they earn or are entitled to!
Whatever sads they have about this are self inflicted.
By virtue of the grammer demonstrated on this thread, it's easy to pick out the "homescoolers" by their exceptional spelling abilities.
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