FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2005


FHSAA implements emergency provisions to deal with eligibility of Katrina refugees

GAINESVILLE – The FHSAA Office today announced emergency provisions to address the eligibility of students from other states who are relocating to Florida as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

At issue are several FHSAA bylaws dealing with academically eligibility, residence and transfer that could make these students ineligible in any FHSAA member school.

"We have been contacted by several member schools that already have enrolled students from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi displaced by the storm," said Commissioner Dr. John A. Stewart. "They are relocating here either with their parents or being sent here by their parents to live with relatives or friends because of the destruction of their homes and the devastation to their communities. Their schools are closed or destroyed and there is no way at this time to obtain a transcript to verify their academic eligibility according to our rules.

"It is my belief that it would be insensitive and improper for this Association to be inflexible in the enforcement of rules that would deny these students the opportunity to participate in interscholastic athletics when their lives, through no fault of their own, have been turned upside down," Stewart said. "Yet, we have an obligation to our existing student-athletes to maintain a level playing field. The emergency provisions we are enacting today, we believe, will ensure that the best interests of all students are protected."

The emergency provisions are as follows:

Academic Eligibility

Any student displaced by the storm will be declared academically eligible for the fall semester in an FHSAA member school if the student's previous school had reported the student to its state association office as academically eligible according to the rules of that state. It will be necessary for the FHSAA member school in which the student enrolls to contact the appropriate state association office to obtain this confirmation and report it to the FHSAA Office using the FHSAA's request for eligibility ruling form.

The student's academic eligibility effective with the spring semester then will be determined according to FHSAA rules, which require a cumulative 2.0 or better grade point average. If the school has been able to obtain the student's transcript from his or her previous school, the student's GPA will be calculated on the basis of all grades received throughout high school. If the school still has no transcript from the student's previous school, his or her GPA will be calculated on the basis of the grades received during the fall semester.

Residence and Transfer Eligibility

Rules rendering the student ineligible due to a transfer after the beginning of a sports season or without a corresponding change of residence by the student AND the individuals with whom he or she has been living will be waived for the benefit of the displaced student this one time.

About the FHSAA
Headquartered in Gainesville, the Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 720 middle and senior public and private high schools. More than 175,000 student-athletes annually participate in one or more of the FHSAA’s 28 championship sports programs. More information is available at www.fhsaa.org.

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