https://www.fultonsun.com/news/2023/dec/27/bill-would-open-missouri-public-school-sports-to/
A bill to allow home-educated students to participate in Missouri public school activities is back for the upcoming legislative session -- and has been coupled with provisions rolling back state oversight of homeschooling families.
Sen. Ben Brown, a Washington Republican, pre-filed a 52-page bill that largely resembles the version he sponsored that cleared the Senate last session.
While it initially was only two pages and focused on giving homeschool kids the opportunity to play sports and join clubs in public schools, it now would add a new category for home-educated students and rescind attendance officers' authority over homeschool families.
"As a former athlete myself whose childhood was greatly impacted by my participation in the sport of wrestling, I feel strongly that it is wrong to deny these potentially life-changing opportunities to children," Brown told the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee during a March hearing.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association policy is to allow homeschool students to participate in their local school districts' sports if they are enrolled in at least one credit hour of instruction, which is typically two classes in non-block-scheduled schools. School districts are allowed to be more restrictive and ban homeschool participation.
Brown's bill would prohibit schools from requiring enrollment in classes, but any instruction or training required for the club or sport would still be allowed.
No one testified in opposition to the bill in March, but that was expanded to remove local oversight of homeschooling families.
Oversight
State Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, said what concerns her about the legislation is "simply not knowing which students are being homeschooled."
"It's imperative ... that when parents make the decision to homeschool their child, we have some reporting procedures in place so that we know which students are actually being homeschooled," she said in an interview with the Independent.
A bill to allow home-educated students to participate in Missouri public school activities is back for the upcoming legislative session -- and has been coupled with provisions rolling back state oversight of homeschooling families.
Sen. Ben Brown, a Washington Republican, pre-filed a 52-page bill that largely resembles the version he sponsored that cleared the Senate last session.
While it initially was only two pages and focused on giving homeschool kids the opportunity to play sports and join clubs in public schools, it now would add a new category for home-educated students and rescind attendance officers' authority over homeschool families.
"As a former athlete myself whose childhood was greatly impacted by my participation in the sport of wrestling, I feel strongly that it is wrong to deny these potentially life-changing opportunities to children," Brown told the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee during a March hearing.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association policy is to allow homeschool students to participate in their local school districts' sports if they are enrolled in at least one credit hour of instruction, which is typically two classes in non-block-scheduled schools. School districts are allowed to be more restrictive and ban homeschool participation.
Brown's bill would prohibit schools from requiring enrollment in classes, but any instruction or training required for the club or sport would still be allowed.
No one testified in opposition to the bill in March, but that was expanded to remove local oversight of homeschooling families.
Oversight
State Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, said what concerns her about the legislation is "simply not knowing which students are being homeschooled."
"It's imperative ... that when parents make the decision to homeschool their child, we have some reporting procedures in place so that we know which students are actually being homeschooled," she said in an interview with the Independent.