IHSA Announcements
December 19, 1996
Member Schools Approve Three Amendment Proposals
BLOOMINGTON — All three (3) of the proposals on the annual referendum ballot of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) were approved by the membership, according to a tally of the votes on each different proposal counted in the IHSA Office Thursday (Dec. 19).
By a margin of 487 in favor versus 51 against, the membership approved a proposal submitted by the IHSA Task Force on Public/Private School Issues, which implements several significant changes in the eligibility standards for students in both public and private schools. Also approved were proposals which alter the penalties incurred by a school which cannot participate in an interscholastic contest due to an employee's strike and which create a new option for boys and girls basketball teams to schedule 16 games and 3 tournaments.
"The support for all the proposals, but particularly those submitted by the Task Force, is encouraging," said Executive Director Dave Fry. "The Task Force poured a great deal of thought and energy into developing proposals to address key issues of concern in a manner which could bring those concerns under control in a constructive manner. Adoption of the proposals by such a great margin speaks well to their sufficiency in the eyes of member school principals."
Ballots containing the proposals which the IHSA Legislative Commission voted to submit to the full membership on this year's regular ballot were mailed to the membership on November 22, 1996. Each member school had one vote. A simple majority of votes cast on a proposal would pass or defeat it. Schools had until Dec. 13, 1996, to return marked ballots to the IHSA Office. Tellers appointed by the IHSA Board of Directors counted the ballots in the IHSA Office Thursday (Dec. 19).
Following are the results in balloting on each proposal on the 1996 regular referendum ballot:
Proposal No. 1 — Provides new parameters for granting financial aid by private schools; significantly revises the residence and transfer eligibility by-laws for all member schools; and implements a new penalty for students whose attendance at a member school is influenced by prohibited recruiting activity. (Yes 487, No 51, Effective July 1, 1997.)
Proposal No. 2 — Adopts the current strike policy into the by-laws and specifies that no financial penalty or assessment will be imposed for a breach of contract when a contest is not played due to a strike. (Yes 484, No 54, Effective July 1, 1997.)
Proposal No. 4 — Provides a new option for boys and girls basketball of 16 games and 3 tournaments exclusive of the IHSA state series; and limits individual students to participating in no more than 3 tournaments exclusive of the IHSA state series. (Yes 360, No 181, Effective July 1, 1997.)
See the Nov. 18, 1996 announcement for a more detailed explanation of each proposal.