IHSA Announcements

March 29, 2000

Important Special Meetings for School Personnel

A series of special meetings for member school principals, athletic directors and coaches has been arranged beginning April 10 and concluding April 28. These meetings will address three significant matters:

a. Interpretations, definitions and illustrations of recently adopted by-laws pertaining to non-school sports instruction and non-school sports competition;

b. Issues concerning the implementation of By-laws 3.017 and 4.019, adopted by the membership in December for the purpose of addressing participation in interscholastic athletics and activities by students who are educated at home.

c. Concerns with the structure of the IHSA Football Playoffs and their impact of conference composition around the state.

Following is a brief overview of each of these issues. Please review these summaries carefully, and then attend one of the special meetings listed on the attached schedule to discuss these matters. You are urged to bring your athletic director and members of your coaching staff to the meeting as well.

Interpretations, Definitions and Illustrations

In December, the member schools adopted amendments to a number of IHSA by-laws pertaining to non-school sports instruction and non-school sports competition. By-laws involved included By-laws 3.111 - 3.124 and 3.161 - 3.171. The amendments to these by-laws become effective May 1, 2000, so they will be in place and enforced before the current school term ends.

At its meeting on March 18, the Board of Directors adopted a number of definitions of important terms in these by-laws as official interpretations to guide the application and understanding of the by-laws. In addition, the Board approved forty-one illustrations showing how the various by-laws are applied in practical situations.

While the definitions and illustrations approved by the Board have been posted on the IHSA's web site (ihsa.org) and are included with this notice, meetings will be held with principals, athletic directors and coaches during April to review the new by-law provisions and discuss how they will be interpreted. Be sure to attend a meeting in your area so you have the most up-to-date information regarding these by-law changes.

Amendments to IHSA By-laws 3.017 and 4.019

In December, principals of member schools voted by a margin of 443 to 65 to amend the IHSA By-laws by adding new Sections 3.017 and 4.019. These new by-laws were intended to address the possible eligibility of students who are educated at home but want to participate in athletics and/or activities at a member school.

Subsequent to the action of the membership, close scrutiny has been given these two new by-laws by a number of individuals and groups. Two are of particular significance and concern:

1. The Illinois House of Representatives has considered a bill, HB3288, which in its initial form would have prohibited an "interscholastic organization" from preventing a student of a home school from participating in interscholastic activities at the public high school in the district where the student resides. The basis for the legislature's concern was the fact that the recently adopted IHSA by-laws constituted an improper and illegal delegation of authority by local school boards.

2. The IHSA attorneys have detailed several legal concerns with the new by-laws. Foremost among these is the same concern over improper and illegal delegation of authority raised by the General Assembly. In addition, the attorneys raise other legal issues which they believe can be resolved by revision of the recently adopted by-laws.

Consequently, the Board of Directors has authorized President Garber to call a special session of the Legislative Commission to consider possible further amendment of these by-laws. The Executive Director will work with Don Dillon, Principal at Greenville High School and author of By-laws 3.017 and 4.019, to propose amendment of these by-laws for consideration by the Legislative Commission and member schools. A preliminary suggestion for such further amendment will be discussed at the upcoming meetings.

Football Playoffs Concerns

Over the past 18 months, a special ad hoc committee has been studying concerns relative to the Football Playoffs. Particular focus has been on the impact the Playoffs have on conference alignments and regular season scheduling. On March 14, this committee met in Bloomington and crafted two recommendations. The following recommendations were presented to the Board of Directors on March 18:

1. Number of Qualifiers: Add an additional round to the Playoffs so the number of qualifying teams can increase from 192 to 384. Maintain 6 classes, but with 64 teams per class. Play first round games on Tuesday of Week #17, with all subsequent rounds to be played on Friday night or Saturday. Seed the top 32 teams in each class and pair them by record and geography against first round opponents, using a maximum travel distance for a first round game of 150 miles.

2. Classification Enrollments: Classify public member schools for the football playoffs according to their actual enrollments; classify private schools and public schools with no boundaries according to the larger of their own enrollment or the average of their enrollment and the average of their opponent's enrollments.

The Board took these recommendations under advisement pending receipt of input from the member schools. The recommendations of the ad hoc committee will be presented and discussed for the purpose of gathering the membership's perspective.

Special Meetings Information
(All meetings begin at 10:30 a.m. except the Morrison meeting)