Our son has been participating in school sports since 7th grade. As he just finished the 9th grade, it’s apparent that he is not growing at the same rate as his peers and is falling behind academically. We would like to have him repeat 9th grade and sit out a year of athletics. When he returns to athletics in 10th grade, will he still have 3 years of high school eligibility?

NO. Rule 18.15.0 indicates that students shall have 6 consecutive years of interscholastic eligibility. Having your son sit out a year will not extend his eligibility and that year will be counted as one of his 6 consecutive years of eligibility.

We have a student that got cleared for a sport and has been practicing with the team. However, due to academic challenges, has not participated in any competitions nor been on the eligibility list. We are beyond the date of the 50% rule and 1 week before Districts and they are now eligible academically. Can they compete in the post-season?
 
Because the student was listed on the cleared list for the sport prior to the 50% date, they are eligible for the post-season.

I have a student whose parents have never been married, although they have lived together and raised their child jointly. The adults have recently split up and the student is choosing to make a move from one parent to the other. Will they need to have a hardship hearing?

If a student is transferring schools and wishing to access rule 18.11.0C, they would need to have sufficient documentation to provide a timeline consistent with the separation. Documentation that shows the 2 adults were living in a partnership (shared lease agreement, joint bank account) and corresponding evidence of separation indicating separation of shared assests, child custody agreements, separate living and separate finances. It is the responsibility of the Athletic Director to make a determination of eligibility and if such documentation is not evident, an eligibility hearing may be necessary.

We have a new student to our school that would like to gain eligibility via rule 18.11.0C, however, the parents, due to religious reasons do not want to get a divorce. What options do they have?

When working through eligibility and the movement of students between parents or change in the family unit, documentation indicating there is a legal separation is required. People choose legal separation instead of divorce because of religious beliefs, a desire to keep the family together legally for the sake of children, the need for one spouse to keep the health insurance benefits that would be lost with a divorce, or simple aversion to divorcing despite the desire to live separate lives. Divorce and legal separation have similar effects in many ways. Both a divorce and legal separation legally create a space between the two adults. They live separately. Finances are separated. Child custody, child support, division of marital assets and debts and spousal support are all ordered by the court. A notarized letter is not enough to access rule 18.11.0C.

We have a student that recently moved into our school district. He told me he is sleeping on a friend’s couch. Does this automatically allow him to be eligible to compete at the varsity level in athletics due to being homeless?

Students that are facing homelessness are not automatically eligible for athletics. The building AD needs to work with the school/district McKinney-Vento Liaison to best support the student. The Liaison is responsible for making a determination of McKinney-Vento status. Once McKinney-Vento is established, the athletic director needs to determine if the student meets all WIAA eligibility requirements. Eligibility requirements in question should be discussed with the McKinney-Vento liaison as to best secure needed information to determine eligibility.

Do 8th graders that have the opportunity to participate in high school sports have access to the “window of transfer”? Does the fact that they played high school sports in 8th grade impact the window of transfer?

The window of transfer is between 8th and 9th grade for all schools that indicate 9th grade as the beginning of high school. Yes, an 8th grader that participated in high school sports can still access the window of transfer.

We have a student that is taking 7 classes and our school is on a 6-period day. How many classes does he need to pass to remain eligible?

This student would be held to the standards of 18.7.0 and would need to maintain passing grades in 6 classes in a 7-period class schedule or the equivalent credits.

We have a new student that is transferring into our school after just one quarter of the school year. She does not have established grades due to the limited academic time and we are trying to establish her eligibility at our school.

This student, upon withdrawing from the previous school, should have a list of classes she was actively taking and grades or academic progress that would be sent along to the new school. In the absence of such grades or proof of academic standing (or if the student was not enrolled in the first 15 school days of a semester or 10 days of a trimester), she would not be eligible to participate in contests in the current semester/trimester.

We have a student that has a 504 plan for anxiety. Her 504 plan has accommodations that allows her to come to school for 1/2 of the day which is 3 of our 6-period day. Is she allowed to take just 3 classes and remain eligible?

NO. The presence of a 504 plan does not preclude the expectations that all athletes are taking and passing the minimum number of classes. If the desire is for this student to be athletically eligible, the school will need to work with the family to provide academic offerings that will allow her to both meet the academic expectations and accommodate the 504 plan. Resource: Alternative Education Document

We have a student that is attending an alternative program without athletics and accessing our public school for athletics. She is in a program that takes just 1 class (.5 credit) at a time. How do I establish and maintain her eligibility?

You would need to ensure she is maintaining passing grades or the minimum grade standard for your school in order to maintain athletic eligibility. For instance, if your school is a 6-period day, this is the equivalent of 3 credits. These 3 credits are being earned over, let’s say, 12 weeks. The girl in question would need to earn a .5 credit every 2 weeks to maintain the equivalent academic progress as other student-athletes in your school. It would be the collaborative responsibility to set up a verification system for this student on a regular basis.