Published: May 27, 2015 (A1)
Bill: Allow nonpublic students in public school activities
Some question why proposal discussed in budget meeting
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
Another push is being made by state lawmakers to allow
nonpublic school students to participate in extracurricular activities,
including sports, at a public school.
This time, it has Gov. Scott Walker’s support.
The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee passed a motion
May 19 for a proposal made by Rep. Bob Kulp, R-Stratford.
“It just makes sense to have equal access for all kids,”
Kulp said. “Other states are doing it, but that’s not why we’re doing it. It
simply makes sense to do it here.”
The bill isn’t official. It is subject to approval in both
chambers of the Legislature before it goes in front of Walker.
“I was contacted by many parents around the state who were
really concerned about their kids and they can’t play sports,” he said.
While Kulp said the legislation is aimed at creating
fairness, Tomi Fay Forbes, Wisconsin Parents Association representative for
Washington, Dodge and Ozaukee counties said the bill does the opposite.
“One of the problems is the WIAA has academic regulations
that they want, which is entirely appropriate,” Forbes said. “Homeschoolers
don’t tend to use the same type of academic criteria, which is one of the
benefits of homeschooling.”
Discussion on the proposal will likely take place in June
when the state budget is discussed.
Forbes said she thought that was a sneaky tactic, wondering
why a sports item is going to be discussed in a budget meeting.
“We don’t trust legislation,” she added. “It’s been in place
for 30 years. We want it left alone. We’re not asking for anything.”
This is the third time since 1999 this idea has been
discussed as possible legislation, including most recently in 2013.
Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, drafted legislation
in 2013 with the same goal in mind: allow all students in a district an
opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities even if a student
isn’t a student at the school.
The key stipulation is a sport can’t be available at the
nonpublic school setting the student is at, but is available at a public school
in the district he or she resides.
For example, if a girl lives in Slinger and attends Kettle
Moraine Lutheran High School, but wants to play tennis, she can participate on
Slinger’s girls tennis team and still be a student at KML.
KML doesn’t offer girls tennis.
Kulp acknowledged the WPA doesn’t support the legislation.
Larry Kaseman, the executive director for the WPA, wrote a letter on the
organization’s website saying, “The vast majority of homeschoolers are clear
that they do not want to trade their homeschooling freedoms for the possibility
of a very few homeschoolers participating in public school sports.”
Kaseman couldn’t be reached for comment.
“They don’t represent all homeschool parents,” Kulp said.
Kulp also said in conversations he’s had with Walker, the
governor is in support of the idea.
“He understands that it’s a need,” Kulp said.
If it passes, the hope is to have the law go into effect in
time for next school year.
“If homeschoolers start doing public school sports, the
schools will have the right to say show me your academic records,” Forbes said,
adding that is the last thing supporters of homeschooling want.
The law would also require school districts to not be
associated with organizations that forbid nonpublic school students from
participating in public school activities.
That would mean one of two things would have to happen. The
WIAA would have to change its bylaws and/or the school district can’t be a part
of the WIAA, which oversees all state sports tournaments, thus eliminating the
opportunity for schools to participate in the state tournament.
“I’m all about giving opportunities to kids,” said Daren Sievers,
Slinger’s superintendent. “We want to give kids the opportunity to participate,
but we have an activity code at Slinger in order to be a part of the teams and
hold (the students) to that standard.”
A message left for the WIAA was not returned.
“It’s bad press for us in a lot of ways,” Forbes said. “The
schools have a system that they stay in. I don’t want to see public school kids
sitting on the bench because a homeschool kid comes in and takes their place.”
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