The Illinois High School Association's Legislative Commission voted Monday (Nov. 28) to refer eight proposals to amend the IHSA Constitution and By-laws to a vote of the general membership. The Commission voted after hearing feedback from member school personnel at 28 town meetings held around the state during the month of November.
The ballot containing the proposals will be available to each member school's official representative in the IHSA's online Schools Center, beginning Wednesday, November 30. The deadline to submit the ballot is midnight, Friday, December 30. The ballots will be tabulated and the results posted on Wednesday, January 4. This year schools will be able to vote "no opinion" on a proposal. A simple majority of yes or no votes cast will determine whether each proposal passes.
Here is a summary of the proposals on the ballot:
- Proposal 1: Sets up a procedure for removing a member of the Board of Directors for cause, requiring a two-thirds majority vote of the remaining members of the Board.
- Proposal 4: Requires a new high school principal to attend a workshop or view an online presentation developed by the IHSA for new school administrators.
- Proposal 8: Allows open gyms at off-site facilities used during particular athletic seasons. Currently the By-Law restricts open gyms to on-site facilities.
- Proposals 12 & 13 (paired): Moves the start of boys and girls golf practice two days earlier (from Wednesday of Week 6 to Monday of Week 6). Moves the date of the first contest four days earlier (from Monday of Week 7 to Thursday of Week 6).
- Proposals 14 & 15 (paired): Changes the season limitation in girls and boys soccer to 25 contests exclusive of the IHSA state series. The current limitation is a combination of contests plus tournaments.
- Proposal 16: Allows a school to share video evidence that an ejected player has been misidentified with the Executive Director, who may then overturn the one-game suspension.
The text of these proposals, as amended is available in a PDF document.
The remaining proposals were rejected by the Legislative Commission. A total of 30 of the 35 commissioners attended Monday's meeting, which was held at the IHSA Office in Bloomington.