Eleven of the 22 proposals submitted to amend the Illinois High School Association Constitution and By-laws were placed on the annual referendum ballot by the Legislative Commission at its second meeting Monday (Dec. 3) in the IHSA Office. All 35 commissioners attended Monday's meeting.
Following are the proposals on the 2012 IHSA annual referendum: Nos. 1, 3, 4 (combined with 5), 7, 8, 9, 12, 19, 20, 21, and 24. The others were rejected by the Legislative Commission after hearing feedback from member schools at town meetings around the state. (The text of the proposals as amended is available in a PDF document.)
The ballot containing the proposals will be available online to IHSA member schools in the IHSA Schools Center on Friday, Dec. 7. The deadline to submit the online ballot is midnight, Sunday, Jan. 6. The ballots will be tabulated and the results posted on Monday, Jan. 7. On each proposal, a simple majority of votes cast will determine whether it passes.
Here is a summary of the proposals on the ballot:
- Proposal 1: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Requires that a student-athlete complete his or her eligibility within four years of enrolling in ninth grade.
- Proposal 19: 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: 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: Reduces the Competitive Cheerleading season by eight weeks, to end on Saturday of Week 31 (the date of the IHSA State Finals).
- Proposal 24: Reduces the number of competitions a Competitive Dance squad may participate in (outside of the IHSA State Series) from seven to five.