IHSA Announcements

November 24, 2008

Legislative Commission Votes to Place 4 of 14 Proposals on Annual Referendum Ballot

Four of the 14 proposals submitted to change 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 (Nov. 24) in the IHSA Office. Thirty-four of the 35 commissioners attended Monday's meeting.

Following are the proposals on the 2008 IHSA annual referendum: No. 7, 9, 10, and 11. The others were rejected by the Legislative Commission after hearing feedback from member schools at the November town meetings. (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 Wednesday, Nov. 26. The deadline to submit the online ballot is midnight, Wednesday, Dec. 24. The ballots will be tabulated and the results posted on Thursday, Jan. 8. A simple majority of votes cast on each proposal will determine whether it passes.

Here is a summary of the proposals on the ballot:

• Proposal 7 would allow schools affected by the 1.65 enrollment multiplier to petition for a waiver under a policy established by the Board of Directors. The proposal was amended at the second Legislative Commission meeting. An additional provision has been added that directs a subcommittee made up of IHSA staff members and Legislative Commission members to develop a draft of the waiver policy to submit to the Board.
• Proposal 9 would move the date of the first contest in five fall sports (boys cross country, girls cross country, girls swimming, girls tennis, and girls volleyball) to Monday of Week 8, one week earlier than the current by-law.
• Proposal 10 would change the team contest limitation in Girls Swimming & Diving and Boys Swimming & Diving from 14 meets to 14 dates and the individual contest limitation in these sports from 17 meets to 17 dates.
• Proposal 11 would add two dates to the girls badminton season, raising the limit from 16 to 18.