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Strike Policy, continued
Participation During Weather or Other Emergencies
The IHSA strike policy does not restrict schools from participating in activities on days when school is not held due to weather or other emergency situations.
The policy relates only to situations in which school is not operating due to strike circumstances.
Host Activity During Strike
A school that is on strike may host an interscholastic event in which other schools participate. The striking school simply may not participate in the event.
Discontinuation of Football Practice
In the event football practices have been terminated, the following restrictions will be enforced:
1. If football practices have been terminated for a period of at least seven (7) days, but less than fourteen (14) days, a school may not resume competition until after three (3) separate days of practice.
2. If practices have been terminated for a period of fourteen (14) days or more, a school may not resume competition until after five (5) separate days of practice.
3. Days in 1) and 2) above shall be interpreted as calendar days, excluding Sundays.
7. Making the Weekly Eligibility Check
IHSA By-laws require that academic eligibility be checked each week to determine if students are passing twenty five (25) credit hours of high school work. (By-law 3.021 and 4.021)
The following procedure should be followed in making the weekly eligibility check:
“Twenty five (25) credit hours of high school work” is defined as any combination of subjects, accepted by local high school authorities in determining the requirements for graduation and which accumulates at least 2.5 credits or its equivalent per semester. Since the rules require that a student must be passing in twenty five (25) credit hours per week, and even though eligibility certificates do not need to be exchanged weekly, a weekly check of each student athlete’s scholastic eligibility is necessary.
Most important to note is that “passing twenty five (25) credit hours per week” is determined by measuring a student’s performance on a cumulative basis from the beginning of a semester through the date on which the check is made. In other words, schools should determine, on each eligibility check date, whether the student’s transcript would contain passing grades in each subject in the event the student should transfer from the school on that date. The check should not reflect only a given school’s week’s scholastic performance; rather it should reflect the student’s cumulative performance for the semester through the date of the check.
Schools are expected to conduct this weekly check in some consistent manner convenient to their individual operations. Student eligibility or ineligibility is then affected on the Monday following the date of the check. For example, consider a school which checks eligibility every Wednesday. Records are processed through the computer and a printout of all athletes’ scholastic standing is given to the athletic director on Thursday. The athletic office reviews the list and reports Thursday afternoon to the principal that a student is not passing twenty five (25) hours as of this check. The principal informs student and coaches on Friday morning that the student is not passing the required work and is thus ineligible for one week, beginning the following Monday morning. The student may play in contests held that evening or on Saturday, the next day. However, the entire next week, the student is ineligible.
The following Wednesday, the process is repeated. This time, when the report reaches the principal on Thursday afternoon, the students’ record shows improvement to passing twenty five (25) credit hours. Now the principal will inform the student and coaches on Friday morning that the student will become eligible again the following Monday morning. Please note that the student is not permitted to play on this Friday and Saturday because of last week’s failure to meet the grade requirements.
A student becoming scholastically ineligible by the weekly eligibility check must remain ineligible for one full calendar week before possibly becoming eligible again.
Events that require Formal Sanctioning include:
8. Sanction Policy
The Board of Directors has adopted the following policy as its interpretation of By-law 2.060 “Multiple School Interscholastic Activities.” The IHSA sanction policy applies to interscholastic events in which the IHSA sponsors a state tournament series.
a) Any interstate event involving two (2) or more schools which is co-sponsored by or titled in the name of an organization outside the high school community (e.g., a university, a theme park, and an athletic shoe/apparel company).
b) Non-bordering events if five (5) or more states are involved.
c) Non-bordering events if more than eight (8) schools are involved.
d) Any event involving two (2) or more schools that involves a team from a foreign country. The host school should complete the
international sanction application. (The exceptions to this rule are Canada and Mexico, which are considered bordering states).
e) In order for an event to receive sanctioning in Illinois all invited and participating schools in the event must be member schools of their high school state association or approved for competition by their respective high school state association. If any listed school does not receive approval the event will be denied by the IHSA. Any non-high school team cannot be involved in any respect with a sanctioned event.
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