Official Agenda of the
Eighth FHSAA Representative Assembly

Monday & Tuesday, Apr. 11-12, 2005
FHSAA Headquarters
Gainesville, Florida


Session 1, Monday, April 11, 2005


1. Call to Order. Pledge of Allegiance. Finlayson.


2. Completion of Expense Reimbursement Vouchers. Stewart.


3. Roll Call of Delegates [Supplement A]. Finlayson.

The chairperson will instruct the Clerk of the Assembly to call the roll. Each delegate will answer present when his/her name is called.


4. Adoption of Agenda. Finlayson.


5. Adoption of Operational Guidelines [Supplement B]. Finlayson.


6. Election of Chairperson. Finlayson.

The acting chair will call for nominations for Chairperson from the floor. Pursuant to FHSAA Bylaws and Robert’s Rules of Order, the Chairperson will be elected for one year and will be eligible for reelection each subsequent year that he/she remains a delegate to the Representative Assembly. The Chairperson will have a vote in all matters coming before the Assembly. A majority of delegates casting votes will elect the Chairperson.

7. Election of Vice Chairperson. Chair.

The Chair will call for nominations for Vice Chairperson from the floor. Pursuant to FHSAA Bylaws and Robert’s Rules of Order, the Vice Chairperson will be elected for one year and will be eligible for reelection each subsequent year that he/she remains a delegate to the Representative Assembly. The Vice Chairperson will serve in the capacity of Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson. The Vice Chairperson will have a vote in all matters coming before the Assembly. A majority of delegates casting votes will elect the Vice Chairperson.


8. Dates of Future Meetings of Assembly. Stewart.

The Board of Directors, which is responsible for setting the meeting dates for the Representative Assembly, at the Commissioner's request, has approved moving future meetings of the Assembly to January beginning with the upcoming 2005-06 school year. The Assembly would meet on the Monday and Tuesday following the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. The request was based on three reasons: (1) the current meeting dates falling during spring break may be a contributing factor to the reluctance of individuals to run for vacant delegate seats; (2) the current meeting dates fall so close to the end of the school year that adequate time does not exist to inform and educate the membership to bylaw changes adopted by the Assembly that will take effect on July 1 before the next school year begins; and (3) there continues to be some confusion in some delegates minds as to whether they need to run for re-election to their seat because the election for the following year occurs before the meeting for the current year is held which, again, may contribute to the rising number of vacant seats that must be filled by appointment. The Commissioner believes that moving the meeting earlier in the school year will address each of these three concerns, and will ask the Assembly to give its consent to this change in meeting dates.


9. First Reading of Proposals to Amend the Bylaws [Supplement C]. Chair.

The Chair will instruct the Clerk of the Assembly to read the summary of each proposal. When a proposal is read, the Chair will then recognize those individuals who have registered at the meeting their desire to speak for or against the proposal. Each individual who addresses the Assembly will be allotted three (3) minutes in which to make his/her comments. Following the individual’s presentation, delegates may direct questions to him/her for a period of time to be determined by the Chair.

Proposal 1. A proposal relating to membership; amending Bylaw 3.3.1; advancing the dates for the period of membership renewal earlier in the school year; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 2. A proposal relating to governance; amending Bylaw 4.1.3; clarifying that the Commissioner is the "chief executive officer" of the Association, and granting the president of the Board of Directors a right to vote on all matters considered by that body; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 3. A proposal relating to governance; amending Bylaw 4.3.3; granting the chairperson of a Sectional Appeals Committee a right to vote on all matters considered by that body; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 4. A proposal relating to governance; amending Bylaw 4.3.6; advancing the dates for August meetings of the Sectional Appeals Committees to earlier in the month; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 5. A proposal relating to interscholastic contests; amending Bylaw 9.7.1; repealing the requirement that a senior high school must sponsor a minimum a varsity program in a minimum of two sanctioned sports during each sports season for any of its programs to be eligible for participation in the state championship series; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 6. A proposal relating to interscholastic contests; amending Bylaw 9.7.1; excepting senior high schools with a population of less than 150 students from the requirement that a senior high school must sponsor a varsity program in a minimum of two sanctioned sports during each sports season for any of its programs to be eligible for participation in the state championship series, and stipulating instead that such schools must sponsor a varsity program in a minimum of one sanctioned sport in any two of the three sports seasons for any of its programs to be eligible for participation in the state championship series; providing an effective date. Sponsor: Beverly Hartman, Athletic Director, Manatee Home Educated Activities Teams (Bradenton).

Proposal 7. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes; creating Bylaw 11.1.6; establishing that residential students in full-time sports academies are ineligible to compete in high school athletics; providing an effective date. Sponsor: Eric J. McFee, assistant principal, Riverdale High School (Fort Myers).

Proposal 8. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes; creating Bylaw 11.2.15; establishing that no member school, even for the purposes of curriculum, may release its student-athletes early during a school day to practice any sport; providing an effective date. Eric J. McFee, assistant principal, Riverdale High School (Fort Myers).

Proposal 9. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes; creating Bylaw 11.2.16; establishing that student-athletes in all member schools must meet the minimum contact time for students as outlined in the Florida Department of Education Guidelines; providing an effective date. Sponsor: Eric J. McFee, assistant principal, Riverdale High School (Fort Myers).

Proposal 10. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes; creating new Bylaw 11.5.2; establishing that a student whose four-year limit of eligibility expires during a given sports season shall be permitted to complete that sports season provided the student meets all other eligibility requirements; renumbering respectively existing Bylaws 11.5.2, 11.5.3 and 11.5.4 as Bylaws 11.5.3, 11.5.4 and 11.5.5; providing an effective date. Sponsor: Michael Colby, Athletic Director, Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School.

Proposal 11. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes; amending Bylaw 11.5.3; clarifying that the student shall have four consecutive years of eligibility after his/her first enrollment in the ninth grade rather than his/her successful completion of the eighth grade; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 12. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes with regard to age; amending Bylaw 11.6.1; establishing a student-athlete's 19th birthday as the date on which he/she becomes ineligible due to age; stipulating, however, that if the 19th birthday occurs during a sports season, inclusive of the state championship series, the student-athlete may begin and complete participation in that sport; providing an effective date. Sponsor: Jay Rader, Athletic Director, Palm Beach Gardens High School.

Proposal 13. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes with regard to age; amending Bylaw 11.6.1; establishing the date that a student-athlete reaches the age of 19 years 6 months as the date on which he/she becomes ineligible due to age; stipulating, however, that if that age is reached during a sport's regular season the student-athlete shall not be permitted to begin participation in that sport; providing an effective date. Sponsor: Jay Rader, Athletic Director, Palm Beach Gardens High School.

Proposal 14. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes with regard to parental consent; amending Bylaw 11.7.1; defining interscholastic practice as including any and all forms of physical conditioning regardless of when such conditioning occurs; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 15. A proposal relating to the eligibility of student-athletes with regard to physical evaluations; amending Bylaw 11.8.1; defining interscholastic practice as including any and all forms of physical conditioning regardless of when such conditioning occurs; providing an effective date. Sponsor: John A. Stewart, Commissioner.

Proposal 16. A proposal relating to due process with regard to eligibility appeals, requests for undue hardship waivers, appeals of Commissioner's findings, and requests for waivers; amding Bylaws 13.1.1(C) and 13.2.3 (C); establishing that a Sectional Appeals Committee may grant an extension of eligibility to a student-athlete through a particular sports season if that is requested by those making the appeal; providing an effective date. Sponsor: Jay Rader, Athletic Director, Palm Beach Gardens High School.


10. Recess until 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 12. Chair.


Session 2, Tuesday, April 12, 2005


11. Call to Order. Pledge of Allegiance. Chair.


12. Roll Call of Delegates. Chair.

The Chair will instruct the Clerk of the Assembly to call the roll. Each delegate will answer present when his/her name is called.

13. Second Reading of Proposals to Amend the Bylaws and Balloting. Chair.

The Chair will instruct the Clerk to read the summary sentence of each proposal a second time. Following the second reading of a proposal, the Chair will then open the floor to debate on that proposal. Motions to amend the proposal will be addressed at this time. Debate will be concluded by either a call for the question from the floor or by order of the Chair. The Chair will then instruct delegates to mark and sign their ballots as to their preference with regard to the proposal on the floor. As the ballots on a proposal are collected and counted by staff, the second reading, debate and balloting on the next proposal shall proceed. This procedure shall be followed until the second reading, debate and balloting on all proposals are concluded. Results of the balloting on each proposal will be announced as tallied.


14. Closing Comments by Delegates, Chair and Commissioner.


15. Adjournment.