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IA SF446
IA SF446A bill for an act implementing requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee.(Formerly SF 265.)
summary
Introduced
02/26/2025
02/26/2025
In Committee
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead
Introduced Session
91st General Assembly
Bill Summary
This bill implements requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee. The bill defines “extracurricular interscholastic athletics” as a contest or competition for sports between different school districts or accredited nonpublic schools and outside the regular scope of a school district’s or accredited nonpublic school’s curriculum. Additionally, the bill defines “organization” as the Iowa high school athletics association and the Iowa girls high school athletic union, or their successor organizations. The bill provides that on or after July 1, 2025, a school district shall not expend any moneys, and an accredited nonpublic school shall not expend any moneys originating from the state, to pay dues or membership fees to an organization, and the school district or accredited nonpublic school shall not be a member of, participate in activities associated with, or receive services from an organization unless the organization establishes, in combination with each other organization, a committee known as the conference realignment committee that is tasked with taking action to bring about reasonable conference affiliation and relationship for member high schools pursuant to requests submitted by member high schools; develops and implements a policy that prohibits the organization from changing the extracurricular interscholastic athletics conferences unless the conference realignment committee ordered the organization to make such change; requires the organization to develop an expedited review and implementation process for certain specified orders received by the committee; requires member schools to offer at least one extracurricular interscholastic athletics activity for boys and at least one extracurricular interscholastic athletics activity for girls in all seasons; prohibits member schools that withdraw from an extracurricular interscholastic athletics conference, without approval, from competing in any conference for two years and from competing in a tournament sponsored by an organization in the same activity for two years. The bill requires the state board of education to adopt rules to administer the bill’s provisions.
AI Summary
This bill establishes new requirements for the Iowa high school athletic association and Iowa girls high school athletic union regarding conference realignment for interscholastic athletics. The bill mandates the creation of an 18-member conference realignment committee composed of nine superintendents and nine activities directors from different regions of the state, tasked with reviewing and approving conference changes for schools. Starting July 1, 2025, schools will be prohibited from paying dues to or participating in these organizations unless they follow specific guidelines, including: considering factors like school enrollment, travel distances, and traditional rivalries when evaluating conference changes; developing an expedited review process for conference membership requests; and requiring schools to offer at least one extracurricular athletics activity for both boys and girls in each season. The bill also imposes penalties on schools that withdraw from a conference without approval, including a two-year ban from competing in conferences and tournaments in the same sport. Additionally, schools can appeal the committee's decisions to the state education director, and the state board of education is required to adopt rules to implement these provisions, ensuring a more structured and fair approach to interscholastic athletics conference alignments.
Sponsors (0)
No sponsors listed
Other Sponsors (1)
Education (Senate)
Last Action
Withdrawn. S.J. 626. (on 03/25/2025)
Official Document
bill text
bill summary
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bill summary
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bill summary
| Document Type | Source Location |
|---|---|
| State Bill Page | https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=SF446 |
| BillText | https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGI/91/attachments/SF446.html |
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