In my column last week, I referenced the potential for some proposed legislation that would seek to simplify the transfer process for student-athletes who are trying to move from one school district to another. Well, the bill was officially filed, and was made available to view online just hours after our Feb. 5 edition was sent to the printer.
House Bill 292 is being sponsored by none other than Whitley County’s own 82nd District Rep. Nick Wilson. In a press release that was sent out Friday, Wilson said of HB 292, “The measure would establish an interscholastic varsity athletic eligibility rule for transfers between member schools. HB 292 would allow a student who is enrolled in grades 9-12 to retain eligibility to compete in varsity contests following transfer to another school. This rule would apply only for the first time that a student makes a transfer. This measure stems from HB 563 21RS, making sure that all student athlete transfers are treated consistently.”
Language in the bill itself reads, “A student who is enrolled in grades nine (9) through twelve (12), participates in a varsity contest in any interscholastic sport at a member school following enrollment in grade nine (9), and then transfers to another member school shall be eligible to participate in varsity contests in any interscholastic sport at the new member school for the first time the student makes a transfer. Any further transfers of the student shall be subject to the transfer rules or bylaws adopted by the state board or any agency designated by the state board to manage interscholastic athletics.”
If you have not read my column from last week, it is available on our website at thenewsjournal.net/. To summarize, I would personally support a measure like this, as I feel that the pros would probably outweigh the cons. I do think that it has great potential to make the lives of school administrators and Kentucky High School Athletic Association officials much easier, but maybe I’m totally wrong about that. If so, somebody can feel free to reach out and let me know. I would genuinely be interested to hear an opposing opinion on this.
Upon further consideration, I suppose that one possible downside could be if a massive amount of student-athletes suddenly tried to make moves all at the same time. That could be chaotic, but I don’t think it would be the case. First, I’m pretty sure that there are other criteria that must be met before a student can legally make a move to another district. I’m sure we would still have to consider family residence and other factors aside from simply, “I’m tired of going here, and now I want to go over there.”
In addition to that, I also feel that, in most cases, student-athletes and their families WANT to make things work where they are currently at. Sure, we hear about transfers literally all the time these days, but I still think that the vast majority of kids are finishing in the same system that they started out in. That being said, I also feel like that gap is gradually closing, which I find to be troublesome, but that’s beside the point.
The point is that I am all for amending current rules as long as it makes the most sense to do so. Perhaps this bill could be tweaked somewhat in order to make it better. We can always try to find ways to improve upon processes, I think, but it has to start with having a conversation. If Wilson’s filing of HB 292 gets a dialogue going on this particular issue that will one day lead to a better way of doing things, then I think that is most definitely a good thing.
I encourage everyone to take the time to visit the Kentucky General Assembly online at www.legislature.ky.gov and look over HB 292 for yourselves. Again, I welcome any comments on the subject – both for and against. Feel free to leave me a Facebook comment, or shoot me an e-mail to tsherman@corbinnewsjournal.com.
So, what else has Wilson been up to lately? Here’s a quick rundown…
HB 132: Wilson said this bill “would allow students that are admitted into an inpatient facility to receive home and hospital educational services starting on the day they are admitted.” He points out that schools are currently tailoring instructional programs for students who are dealing with serious medical conditions, but that personnel are not being compensated for these efforts. This bill seeks to rectify that situation.
HB 290: With this bill, Wilson wants to “ensure that law library fees can be used for subscriptions to computer-assisted legal research, internet access, computers, and related equipment.” Apparently, local bar associations are only able to utilize funding to purchase physical books, instead of being able to put it toward electronic resources. This bill is designed to modernize these law libraries in order to make them more useful.
HB 291: The Family Preservation and Accountability Act would allow courts to “issue an alternative sentence, including participation in programs and services that support the parent-child relationship.” It would also, “require the court, upon conviction of the defendant, to consider the defendant’s status as a primary caretaker of a dependent child, unless the defendant is a violent offender, the victim is a child, or a statute prohibits an alternative sentence.
HB 293: The J.E. Jones Kentucky Fairways Act. See this week’s “Par for the Course” column in Sports for more details.
