TwoEdgedSword Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm looking into the athletic association rules and state law for Michigan homeschoolers' access to public school sports. Michigan's athletic association (MHSAA) adds more public school enrollment requirements for eligibility than existing state law requires. The MHSAA requires a high school student to be taking 66% of his/her classes at the high school. I don't think the rule makes a distinction between public and private member schools. Yet I also know private schools that are part of the MHSAA, and allow homeschoolers to participate in sports, with homeschoolers paying a fee and submitting monthly grades. Is your son or daughter involved in private high school sports where the school is a MHSAA member, and if so, what type of requirements are they needing to meet for eligibility? Does anyone have their student in an independent study program at home while enrolled as a Michigan public school student and they play high school sports? What is being required for eligibility in that setting? If your son/daughter does a Michigan virtual school program and plays public high school sports, can you share how that works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoEdgedSword Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Also, anyone from Missouri with these issues? MO laws and association rules seem to be really similar to Michigan. I'd love to hear from anyone in any state in the situation where the state law allows homeschoolers to play p.s. sports, but the state high school athletic association requires 66% of the students' course load or more to be at the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I can't answer all of your questions but I have done some research on this for MI. First, be aware that the rules are just the minimum requirement. The district or private school itself might have tighter rules. Ours is somewhat hostile towards anyone doing anything non-traditional and simply will not work with anyone outside of the traditional student with one exception. if you are enrolled as a full-time student in the district that can be through the virtual school option. BUT the student has to take those virtual classes while physically at the school. They define "full time" as 66%. So, theoretically, the other 33% could be other classwork outside of school, however no one locally has successfully made this work. My dd desperately wants to participate in school sports (we have no rec leagues for common sports here.....small population) but we have waved the white flag because the district simply will not work with us. And even if they did, to meet MHSAA rules, she would have to take 66% of her classes at the school or through the PS virtual school. The only loophole I could see is if you found a private school that defined "at the school" more loosely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoEdgedSword Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thanks for that info skimomma. That is certainly a bummer for you. And the virtual school required at the actual school? Have not seen that before. I do see private schools not requiring physical presence at all for academics. Maybe there is some exception for them that I'm unaware of. But we have seen and done this not even getting the significance that they were part of the MHSAA at the time. Fortunately for us the private school option is still available to us for all sports. But some of our kids, who have been playing public school sports through sixth grade so far, are at a higher competitive level than the private schools. We'd like them to continue developing them as athletes in the public school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thanks for that info skimomma. That is certainly a bummer for you. And the virtual school required at the actual school? Have not seen that before. I do see private schools not requiring physical presence at all for academics. Maybe there is some exception for them that I'm unaware of. But we have seen and done this not even getting the significance that they were part of the MHSAA at the time. Fortunately for us the private school option is still available to us for all sports. But some of our kids, who have been playing public school sports through sixth grade so far, are at a higher competitive level than the private schools. We'd like them to continue developing them as athletes in the public school. We have only one tiny private school within an hour's drive and they are not MHSAA. They are happy to have homeschooled children on their teams. The reason they are happy is because even when every single kid in the school participates, they still struggle to have enough kids to form a team. We are talking a basketball "team" that is grades 6-12, co-ed. So, great if you just want to have fun playing basketball and get some exercise. Not so much for a homeschooled 16 yo boy with real talent at the sport, for example (that is not our situation FTR). On top of that, we would have to sign a very stringent statement of faith in order for my child to participate which we are not willing to do. Sigh. The public school certainly could allow more participation, they just do not want to. I can understand why. It is a hassle and there is no incentive for them. Like I said, we have given up and have decided to just find other ways to fulfill sporting opportunities. But we are close to one family that has a very gifted athlete. She happens to be gifted academically as well. As a result, the school long ago ceased to have adequate courses for her to take. They even limit dual enrollment and AP opportunities so that was no longer an option. So her parents wanted to homeschool.....but still allow her to participate in her sport. This became a problem due to the MHSAA rules and the school's own rules. So, she takes mickey mouse "virtual school" classes while sitting in the school library for 66% of the school day. She finishes those in a fraction of the time, then does the work for her own college classes that do not qualify due to limits on dual enrollment. It is pretty crazy. It seems like a huge hassle but she is in the running for some serious D1 college scholarships due to her athletic talent and this is the only way her parents could find to hobble through her senior year without wasting the whole year academically. The school's original solution as for her to take 6 out of 8 periods as study hall (the remaining two being gym and choir). Once I knew about this particular case, I decided it was not worth further investigation for my own child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Also, anyone from Missouri with these issues? MO laws and association rules seem to be really similar to Michigan. I'd love to hear from anyone in any state in the situation where the state law allows homeschoolers to play p.s. sports, but the state high school athletic association requires 66% of the students' course load or more to be at the school. I'm in MO. The schools here apply this You must have earned, the preceding semester of attendance, a minimum of 3.0 units of credit or have earned credit in 80% of the maximum allowable classes in which any student can be enrolled in the semester, whichever is GREATER, at your school. rule to say that students must be enrolled in 80% of the maximum available credits. So if the school offers 8 credits, students have to be enrolled 7, 6 would only be 75%. In other words, no homeschoolers play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoEdgedSword Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm still amazed at the virtual school being done while sitting in the public school library. In a nearby larger town (different school district), athletes do the virtual school at home and are considered full time students with sports access. Our area is small and I don't think it has a virtual school option yet. But the sports program is excellent and it's small enough that a homeschooler with strong abilities could get a lot of playing time. I'm going to look into the virtual school or an independent learning program option. We'll see if they even exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Virtual schools would be considered enrolled in public school, but not in a local school. I don't know how that would work. The concept of having to sit in the school building sounds dreadful. In MO there are no free virtual schools and the price to go through the state program is high. That wouldn't have been an option I would have considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm still amazed at the virtual school being done while sitting in the public school library. In a nearby larger town (different school district), athletes do the virtual school at home and are considered full time students with sports access. It is my opinion that the school officials are not reading the rules correctly. The parents fear this as well. They are very concerned that their dd's NCAA eligibility could be at risk and I think their fears are founded. The study-hall "solution" the school originally offered up appears to be a violation of both NCAA and MHSAA rules, which is why the parents fought for another solution. The school even said she could sit through those study halls and do her homeschooling (actually college) work. But the parents were too worried about her losing her NCAA eligibility....thus the mickey mouse classes. It is a very bizarre situation but I am guessing it is common as small schools with limited time to research are trying to navigate lots of rules and the new virtual school options. This would all be unnecessary in a larger area if there were any other avenue for the girl to play her sport for her last year in high school. But there is not. So, they re jumping through all of these hoops so that she can play for the 8-week season. I do to think it is worth it myself, but they apparently do. I only brought it up as an example because I think wise parents need to be doing their own homework and not relying on the school officials to be protecting themselves or the children involved from violations that are found after it is too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Library Momma Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I would first evaluate if your child has a good chance of making the school team in their sport of choice, before making any changes that would affect their education. Where I live It is quite competitive to make the team in some (if not all) sports. I know you say your area is small but the competition to play may be more than you realize. Perhaps the High School coach could be used as a resource to help evaluate their skills and aid in your decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoEdgedSword Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thanks all. These answers are helpful. In a situation with one of our kids, we have been told by the coach affiliated with the he middle school level that he would definitely make the team. Mind you the middle school is MHSAA too and so all the same rules apply there. He has been doing a travel team with the public school at the 6th grade level and they have been doing very well. I've not pushed the issue for my high school aged kids yet. But one of them played at the lower levels in the public school then went on to play for the homeschool team at the high school level. If our soon to be middle schooler could open the p.s. door for our kids that are younger then him, that would be something. At least I want to learn all I can to see if they will even work with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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