FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 1998
First FHSAA Representative Assembly adopts comprehensive revision of FHSAA bylaws
GAINESVILLE – Three proposals to amend the Bylaws of the Florida High School Activities Association, including a comprehensive revision to the entire document, were adopted by the Association’s first Representative Assembly, which met April 20 and 21 at the Daytona Beach Hilton.
The comprehensive revision, proposed by Commissioner Ron Davis, drastically changes the organization of the existing document. The revision consolidates articles of a similar nature, eliminates redundant passages and corrects inconsistencies and contradictions. A number of new provisions, which were included in the proposed revision, were deleted by the Assembly before its adoption. Those new provisions will be studied by a subcommittee of the Assembly and may be considered as separate proposals at the body’s 1999 meeting.
One significant change, however, that was retained in the revision simplifies the age rule for student eligibility. Currently, a student who turns 19 years 9 months of age during a sports season is ineligible to begin competition in that sports season. The revision eliminates this provision and permits a student to begin competition in any sport and retain his or her eligibility so far as age is concerned until the day he or she turns 19 years 9 months.
Other proposals adopted included one that specifies that the Sectional Appeals Committees will meet monthly during the school year from August through April, and one that eliminates the existing initial five-day waiting period for athletic eligibility only for member schools which submit their annual eligibility reports via the Association’s electronic eligibility software.
Fifty-three of 60 delegates attended the two-day meeting. Proposals required a two-thirds majority vote of all votes cast for adoption. The adopted proposals will take effect July 1 and will be printed in the 1998-99 FHSAA Handbook.
Davis was ecstatic over the passage of the comprehensive revision.
“This revision was sorely needed,” Davis said. “The bylaws as we know them have served us well for many years, but there were also a lot of problems with them. Through the years, newly adopted articles had been stuck in the wrong places, some provisions had been changed while others dealing with the same thing had not, and, in some cases, we said the same thing in too many places. It was hard to find certain provisions, and even harder to understand them especially if different provisions contradicted themselves.
“This revision is an excellent foundation on which to build the bylaws of this Association as we approach the 21st century.”
Provisions which were defeated included one that would have established minimum qualifications for the position of Commissioner, one that would have established minimum qualifications for the position of Deputy Commissioner, one that would have required the conduct of separate state championship series competitions for public and private schools, one that would have allowed member schools to participate against out-of-state schools which are not members of the National Federation of State High School Associations, one that would have eliminated the 15-day advance submission date for official state series entry lists for schools using the Association’s electronic eligibility softball, one that would have eliminated the seven-day waiting period for determining student eligibility after the completion of a semester, and one that would have permitted private schools to establish their own grading scale requirements for determining academic eligibility.
The Representative Assembly was created by the Florida Legislature as part of its sweeping reorganization of the FHSAA a year ago. Delegates were elected by member school representatives in each of 32 legislative divisions across the state, as well as by the Florida Association of District School Superintendents and the Florida School Boards Association.
Complete minutes of the first FHSAA Representative Assembly meeting are available on FHSAA Online, the official website of the Florida High School Activities Association at www.fhsaa.org, and will be published in an upcoming issue of the FHSAA Bulletin.
The Florida High School Activities Association is the governing body for interscholastic activities in Florida. The non-profit organization has a membership of 601 schools.
Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org
