IHSA Announcements

December 6, 1999

Board Concentrates On Eligibility Rulings

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors spent the greater part of the the regular December meeting Monday (Dec. 6) involved in hearings regarding eligibility. Following are the eligibility decisions reached at the meeting:

  1. Sustained the Executive Director's ruling that a student be ineligible at Lincolnshire (Stevenson) for the 1999-200 school term for non-compliance with transfer by-law 3.043 on the basis there is no documentation of circumstances completely beyond the control of the student, his parents/guardian or school which directly caused and necessitated his transfer from Chicago (Manley) to Stevenson.

  2. Sustained the Executive Director's ruling that a student is ineligible at Palos Hts. (Chicago Christian) until March 18, 2000, for non-compliance with transfer by-law 3.043. The student transferred to Chicago Christian from South Holland (Thornwood) without an accompanying move to a new public school district by his parents. The student played basketball at Thornwood and was ruled ineligible for a period of three seasons.

  3. Sustained the Executive Director's ruling that a student is ineligible at Winnteka (New Trier) until March 18, 2000 for non-compliance with transfer by-law 3.043. The student's legal guardianship was changed to two residents of the New Trier district, after being introduced to them through a mutual acquaintance Townsend met as a member of an AAU basketball team. The student attended Chicago (Morgan Park Academy) before transferring to New Trier.

  4. Approved the minutes of a Conference Call meeting of Nov. 4, 1999, in which the Board approved the Executive Director's modified ruling that a student be ineligible at Wheaton (W. Warrenville South) until Dec. 15, 1999, for noncompliance with transfer by-law 3.043.

Discussion Items

At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain agenda items which the Board discusses but upon which it takes no action. Following is a report of those on the December, 1999, agenda:

  1. Principal's Rules Meetings: The Board heard a report of the statewide Principal's Rules Meetings held this past fall, and there was discussion of methods to increase attendance at them next year.

  2. Town Meeting and Legislative Commission Reports: The Board received reports from the annual Town Meetings conducted in November and of the action by the Legislative Commission to place 22 of the 28 proposals on the annual ballot for 1999. Member schools have until Dec. 14 to complete the ballots and have them in the IHSA Office for tabulation. It was reported to the Board that all the proposals regarding the recommendations from the strategic action team would go into effect May 1 if approved.

  3. National Football TV Plan: The Board heard a report of the decision by Fox Sports Net to drop plans to sponsor, conduct and televise a national high school football championship. In a letter to the IHSA Office from the National Federation, it was announced that the concept has been canceled.

  4. Swimming Pool Regulations: The Board heard a report of new regulations adopted by the Illinois Department of Public Health regarding installation of starting platforms in swimming pools. The new regulations require that the platforms be changed from 30 inches to 18 inches. From a survey of member schools with swimming pools, it was reported to the Board that there are 240 member schools with boys teams and 256 with girls teams. The new regulations could create reconfiguration problems for pools now being used by the schools. Pools built before May 20, 1999 would be affected. IHSA member schools follow National Federation Swimming and Diving Rules.