Illinois High School Association (IHSA) member schools approved all three amendment proposals on the ballot in the annual referendum that ended December 30, 2015. The online ballots were tabulated and certified in the IHSA Office on Wednesday, Jan. 6. All the by-law changes take effect on July 1, 2016.
Here is a summary of the proposals and the vote totals. (The numbers in parentheses indicate the total of yes, no, and no opinion votes. For an amendment to pass, yes votes must outnumber no votes.)
- Proposal 6 (passed 414-140-43): Clarifies the current-by-law and establishes when students can and can't attend a coaching school, camp, or clinic during two distinct periods during the calendar year.
- Proposal 15 (passed 277-247-73): Removes the season limitation currently in place for Scholastic Bowl.
- Proposal 16 (passed 280-232-85): Increases the contest limitation for Scholastic Bowl from 18 dates to 27 dates.
A total of 597 of 811 member schools (73.6%) participated in the amendment balloting, a slight decrease from last year's 75.7%.
Following is a summary of member school participation in the amendment process since 1996-97.
|
Year
|
Type of Ballot
|
Proposals on Ballot
|
Schools Voting
|
Percentage Voting
|
|
1996-97
|
mail-in
|
3
|
≥541
|
~72%
|
|
1997-98
|
mail-in
|
5
|
≥526
|
~70%
|
|
1998-99
|
mail-in
|
data missing
|
|
1999-2000
|
mail-in
|
22
|
≥517
|
~68%
|
|
2000-01
|
mail-in
|
3
|
≥547
|
~73%
|
|
2001-02
|
mail-in
|
11
(1 rejected)
|
≥417 of 755
|
~55%
|
|
2002-03
|
mail-in
|
7
|
≥493 of 766
|
~64%
|
|
2003-04
|
mail-in
|
9
|
≥541
|
~71%
|
|
2004-05
|
online
|
5
|
≥475
|
~62%
|
|
2005-06
|
online
|
5
|
≥593
|
~78%
|
|
2006-07
|
online
|
6
|
438 of 764
|
57.3%
|
|
2007-08
|
online
|
4
|
473 of 756
|
62.0%
|
|
2008-09
|
online
|
4
(1 rejected)
|
415 of 777
|
53.4%
|
|
2009-10
|
online
|
8
|
430 of 785
|
54.8%
|
|
2010-11
|
online
|
13
|
416 of 786
|
52.9%
|
|
2011-12
|
online
|
14
|
500 of 794
|
63.0%
|
|
2012-13
|
online
|
11
|
464 of 802
|
57.8%
|
|
2013-14
|
online
|
11
|
463 of 808
|
57.3%
|
|
2014-15
|
online/email
|
6
(3 rejected)
|
613 of 810
|
75.7%
|
|
2015-16
|
online/email
|
3
|
597 of 811
|
73.6%
|