Announcements

All 11 proposals on the ballot in the annual Illinois High School Association (IHSA) member school referendum were approved in voting by the membership last month. The online ballots were tabulated and certified in the IHSA Office Tuesday (Jan. 8).  All the by-law changes take effect on July 1, 2013. 

Here is a summary of the proposals and the vote totals:

• Proposal 1 (passed 362-98): Allows coop agreements to be extended by simple notification, without resubmitting the paperwork (including conference approval) that is currently required for a new coop agreement.
• Proposal 3 (passed 373-88): Requires forfeiture of a football game if a school goes on strike after the Monday preceding the game and has not settled the strike by midnight preceding the day the game is scheduled.
• Proposal 4 (passed 346-116): Allows a school that offers only five classes per day to request a waiver of the requirement that athletes be passing 25 credit hours per week to be eligible for interscholastic participation. The waiver would allow a student to be eligible with only 20 credit hours per week.
• Proposal 7 (passed 375-81): Limits eligibility of international students to those students in foreign exchange programs approved by the IHSA and the Council on Standards for International Education Travel (CSIET), for a maximum of one school term.
• Proposal 8 (passed 383-80): Makes a student-athlete ineligible in a particular sport if he/she transfers after the IHSA sport season has begun. Currently, a student can transfer and remain eligible if he/she transfers before classes have begun in the fall.
• Proposal 9 (passed 303-159): Removes the automatic eligibility provision for first-time transfers from a private school to a home public school, or from a private school to another private school, and requires in the case of any transfer not accompanied by a change in residence to another high school attendance area that the transfer be necessitated by (a) a change in the family’s financial position or (b) extenuating circumstances documented by the sending school.
• Proposal 12 (passed 441-23): Requires that a student-athlete complete his or her eligibility within four years of enrolling in ninth grade.
• Proposal 19 (passed 404-58): Eliminates the game limitation for boys and girls volleyball players and limits players to no more than four tournaments, excluding the IHSA State Series. Players who do not participate in the IHSA State Series may participate in one additional tournament.
• Proposal 20 (passed 349-90): Shifts the Girls Bowling season one week later (to start on Monday of Week 20 and end on Saturday of Week 33), moves the date of the first contest four days later (to Friday of Week 21), and makes way for the potential addition of a regional tournament level.
• Proposal 21 (passed 397-51): Reduces the Competitive Cheerleading season by eight weeks, to end on Saturday of Week 31 (the date of the IHSA State Finals).
• Proposal 24 (passed 368-79): Reduces the number of competitions a Competitive Dance squad may participate in (outside of the IHSA State Series) from seven to five.

A total of 464 of 802 member schools (57.8%) participated in the amendment vote, a decrease from last year's 63%.
Following is a summary of member school participation in the amendment process since 1996-97.