FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 21, 2000


Board adopts new provisions to govern international students, boarding schools, financial aid

GAINESVILLE – The fallout from investigations of violations committed by member schools during this past basketball season continued last week, as the Florida High School Activities Association Board of Directors adopted new policies and amended existing ones relating to international students, boarding schools and financial aid programs.

The Board of Directors took the action at its regular June meeting held Friday, June 16, at the Wyndham Westshore Hotel in Tampa.

The Policy on the Eligibility of Foreign Exchange and Other International Students will govern the eligibility of students in foreign exchange programs, as well as other international students. It states that only those foreign exchange students who are sponsored by a foreign exchange program recognized by the Council on Standards for International Education Travel (CSIET) will be eligible to play athletics at member schools. International students who are not part of a foreign exchange program will be required to have their transcripts independently translated and evaluated to determine their academic eligibility before being allowed to participate.

The Policy on Boarding Schools establishes the definition of a legitimate boarding school so far as the FHSAA is concerned. It says that a boarding school must have an enrolled boarding population in the ninth through 12th grades of at least 25 students or 10 percent of the full student enrollment in those grades, whichever is greater. More importantly, it limits the number of boarding students who may be on the team roster in any single sport to not more than half. In other words, not more than seven of the 15 members of a basketball team may be boarding students. Finally, it requires a boarding school to be recognized as such by either the Florida Council of Independent Schools or the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The Association's existing Policy on Recruiting was amended to require private schools to describe to the FHSAA Office the work-study programs it offers, and keep detailed records on the job responsibilities and hours worked for each student-athlete who participates in the program. It prohibits student-athletes from engaging in such a program during the part of the school year when their sport is in season. It also prohibits a coach or other employee of the school's athletic program from supervising student-athletes in the program.

"What we found as the result of our investigations was that our existing rules and policies weren't comprehensive enough," said FHSAA Commissioner Robert W. Hughes. "We simply did not have anything in writing that addressed some of the issues that surfaces.

"What we needed were some policies that established some specific do's and don'ts with regard to international students, boarding schools and financial aid. We worked closely with the Florida Council of Independent Schools and our legitimate boarding school members to develop some regulations that will help us in these areas."

All policies adopted by the Board of Directors take effect July 1.

Another area that continues to be of concern to the FHSAA administrative staff and Board of Directors is sportsmanship.

Taking a get-tough stance on unsportsmanlike conduct, the Board of Directors enacted new provisions in its Policy on Unsportsmanlike Conduct that will result in the assessment of fines to member schools when they incur multiple ejections for unsportsmanlike conduct in a sport.

Beginning with the fourth ejection of a student-athlete for unsportsmanlike conduct in a sport, the school's program in that sport will be placed on administrative probation, and the school will be fined a minimum of $100 for each ejection in that sport.

A school that has more than one student-athlete ejected for gross unsportsmanlike conduct will be fined a minimum of $250 for each gross unsportsmanlike ejection thereafter for the remainder of the school year, regardless of the sport in which it occurs. Examples of gross unsportsmanlike conduct are cursing, striking and threatening an official; spitting on an official or opponent; directing racial, ethnic or gender slurs toward an official or opponent; or attempting to inflict bodily harm.

"Hopefully this will encourage principals to become more involved in attempting to correct the behavior of their student-athletes," Hughes said.

In other action, the Board of Directors:

• Adopted changes to its Official Entry List Policies and Procedures that will eliminate the need for schools to submit such lists to the FHSAA Office. The lists now will be submitted directly to the host school of the district tournament or meet.

• Enacted language to state that once a school has been defeated in the playoffs, it will not be reinstated if the team that defeated it is forced to forfeit or vacate the bracket (General Policies on Interscholastic Contests).

• Appointed Laura Campbell Walker, headmaster of Palmer Trinity School in Miami, to fill the Section 4 private school representative seat on the Board of Directors. Walker replaces Lee Turner, principal of Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, who resigned to accept a position in another state.

• Appointed Richard Finlayson, principal of Aucilla Christian Academy in Monticello, to fill the private school seat on the Section 1 Appeals Committee. Finlayson replaces Les Jones, principal of Munroe Day School in Quincy, who retired.

• Authorized Hughes to file suit against Berkshire School of Homestead to recover more than $15,000 in expenses and penalties incurred and assessed by the Association in its investigation of the school's basketball programs.

• Authorized Hughes to denote in official FHSAA records that Miami Palmetto's participation in the 2000 FHSAA State Softball Series and its eventual Class 6A state championship in that sport occurred as a result of the terms of a court order.

• Elected Jim Kirton, principal of Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, as its president for the 2000-01 school year.

• Elected Sonny Hester, athletic director at Jesuit High School in Tampa, as its vice president for the 2000-01 school year.

• Voted to discontinue the experimental basketball officials evaluation program after one year due to its cost.

• Gave tentative approval to a proposed $2.8 million budget for the Association for the 2000-01 school year.

The Florida High School Activities Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletics in Florida. It has a membership of 615 middle, junior and senior high schools. It's Board of Directors acts as the executive authority of the Association, establishing guidelines, regulations, policies and procedures for interscholastic competitions, as well as terms and conditions for the state championship series.

Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org