Page 31 - Demo

30) Q. Can a cooperative team form for only one year?
A. No. Cooperative team agreements are for a two year period. Consolidation or annexation of a school in a coop
could allow a coop to end prior to the completion of its two year cycle. (By-law 2.030)
31) Q. If two schools have established a cooperative team, and the cooperative dissolves prior to the end of its two-year agreement, may either of the schools participate as an individual school in that sport before the termination of the cooperative agreement?
A. Yes, provided the reasons for dissolution of the cooperative team are extenuating circumstances accepted by the IHSA Board of Directors. However, a school in this situation may not enter another cooperative agreement in this sport until the end of the two-year time period of the original cooperative agreement. (By-law 2.030)
32) Q. In the event two schools, each of which is a member of a different conference, form a cooperative team, how will the requirement for conference approval be administered?
A. According to By-law 2.030, cooperative teams must be approved by the conference(s) of which the participating schools are members. They must also be approved by the conference in which the cooperative team will participate or by seven schools on the cooperative team’s schedule if it will not compete in a conference. To illustrate:
(a) If the new cooperative team will compete in the conference of which one of the cooperating schools has been
a member, both that conference and the conference(s) of which other schools in the cooperative have been
members will be required to approve the cooperative team.
(b) If the new cooperative team will compete in neither of the existing conferences but in another conference
altogether, then both the previous conferences and the new conference must approve formation of the
cooperative team.
(c) If the schools forming a cooperative team have been members of conferences but will compete as an
independent team under their cooperative agreement, then the conferences of which they have individually been members, along with seven (7) schools from the proposed independent team’s schedule, must approve formation of their cooperative team.
(d) If one school entering a cooperative has been a member of a conference and the other school entering the cooperative has been independent, and the cooperative will compete as an independent, approval of the cooperative team must be obtained from both the conferences of the one cooperating school and from seven (7) schools on the new cooperative team’s schedule.
33) Q. How is the term “seven schools” defined with respect to requiring approval by “seven schools on its schedule” in the event the co-op team will not compete in a conference?
A. “Seven schools” means seven actual and different individual IHSA member high schools from seven different competitions included on the cooperative team’s proposed schedule for the succeeding school year. (Constitution 1.420 & By-law 2.030)
34) Q. Assume that a school drops out of a conference where it has participated in a particular sport and then enters a cooperative team agreement to participate in that same sport in another conference. Do the schools in the original conferences have any recourse, especially if they are not able to reschedule new opponents?
A. Formation of cooperative teams does not automatically negate all existing contracts. In general, contracts may be dissolved or altered only by mutual consent on the part of all involved parties. (By-law 2.030) In this situation, however, approval of the formation of a cooperative team by a conference will be interpreted to indicate tacit acceptance of the dissolution of all contracts between conference members and the school(s) involved in the cooperative. Therefore, schools in a conference which approves a member leaving the conference to form a cooperative team that will compete as an independent or in another conference, may lose games they had planned on without having breach of contract recourse. On the other hand, contracts for games which are not part of a conference schedule in a conference which has approved the formation of the cooperative team will be considered as individual contracts between the two schools. They may be dissolved only by mutual consent of both schools. If the school which is party to such contract and is not entering a cooperative team agreement refuses to dissolve the contract mutually, it will leave the school entering the cooperative agreement with a potential breach of contract situation.
35) Q. Will the IHSA approve a cooperative team application in the event all questions pertaining to contracts with other schools and/or officials are not mutually resolved?
A. It is not likely, though a judgment will be made in each individual case. (By-law 2.030)
36) Q. If two schools have established a cooperative team and, during the season for that sport, one of the two cooperating schools experiences a teachers’ strike, may the cooperative team continue to participate during the strike or is it restricted under the terms of the IHSA Strike Policy?
A. The cooperative team will be affected by the strike policy. Therefore, if either cooperating school experiences a strike, the students from the striking school will be restricted from competition for the duration of the strike. Students from the non-striking school may continue to participate. If the non-striking school is unable, due to insufficient numbers, etc., to fulfill the terms of contracted obligations, the cooperative will be held in breach of contract. (Constitution 1.420 & By-law 2.030)
37) Q. What impact on a coop is there if, during the term of a coop, one of the schools involved in a coop consolidates with another district, annexes with another district, or deactivates?
A. In the event of consolidation, annexation, or deactivation, a coop agreement among schools will cease to exist. In such an event, the consolidation, annexation, or deactivation will supersede the coop agreement. In such an event, the remaining school(s) would be allowed to enter into a new coop agreement with a new district, even if their former agreement had not expired. (By-law 2.030(e).
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