CS/CS/HB 151 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to interscholastic activities; 2
amending s. 1006.15, F.S.; providing requirements for 3
determining whether a school offers an activity or 4
sport; revising the criteria a private school student 5
must meet to participate in a sport at a Florida High 6
School Athletic Association (FHSAA) member school; 7
removing a provision limiting which non -FHSAA member 8
private school students are eligible to participate in 9
FHSAA sports; amending s. 1006.20, F.S.; revising the 10
requirements for the appointment of members to the 11
FHSAA board of directors; providing requirements for 12
membership of FHSAA committees on appeals; providing 13
timelines for specified appeals; authoriz ing the FHSAA 14
board of directors to conduct meetings solely for 15
certain appeals; requiring the publication of appeal 16
decisions online; providing requirements for such 17
publications; providing an effective date. 18
19
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the S tate of Florida: 20
21
Section 1. Subsection (2) and paragraphs (a), (e), and (g) 22
of subsection (8) of section 1006.15, Florida Statutes, are 23
amended to read: 24
1006.15 Student standards for participation in 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricul ar student 26
activities; regulation. — 27
(2) Interscholastic extracurricular student activities are 28
an important complement to the academic curriculum. 29
Participation in a comprehensive extracurricular and academic 30
program contributes to student development of the social and 31
intellectual skills necessary to become a well -rounded adult. As 32
used in this section, the term "extracurricular" means any 33
school-authorized or education -related activity occurring during 34
or outside the regular instructional school day. When 35
determining whether a school offers an activity or sport, the 36
activity or sport must be in the same designation required by s. 37
1006.205(3)(a). 38
(8)(a) The Florida High School Athletic Association 39
(FHSAA) shall, in cooperation with each district school board 40
and its member private schools, facilitate a program in which a 41
middle school or high school student who attends a private 42
school is eligible to participate in an interscholastic or 43
intrascholastic sport at a member public high school, a member 44
public middle school, a member 6 -12 public school, or a member 45
private school, as appropriate for the private school student's 46
grade level, if: 47
1. The private school in which the student is enrolled 48
does not offer the interscholastic sport is not a member of the 49
FHSAA. 50
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2. The private school student meets the guidelines for the 51
conduct of the program established by the FHSAA's board of 52
directors and the district school board or member private 53
school. At a minimum, such guidelines must provide a deadline 54
for each sport by which the private school student's parents 55
must register with the member school in writing their intent for 56
their child to participate at that school in the sport. 57
(e) Any non-FHSAA member private school that has a student 58
who wishes to participate in this program must make all student 59
records, including, but not limited to, academic, financial, 60
disciplinary, and attendance records, available upon request of 61
the FHSAA. 62
(g) Only students who are enrolled in non -FHSAA member 63
private schools consisting of 200 students or fewer are eligible 64
to participate in the program in any given academic year. 65
Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) and subsection 66
(7) of section 1006.20, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 67
1006.20 Athletics in p ublic K-12 schools.— 68
(4) BOARD OF DIRECTORS. — 69
(a) The executive and legislative authority of the FHSAA 70
is vested in its board of directors, which is composed of 13 71
members, 8 of whom are appointed by the Governor and confirmed 72
by the Senate, as follows: 73
1. Two public member school representatives elected from 74
among its public school representative members. Each elected 75
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representative must be from a different administrative region. 76
2. Two nonpublic member school representatives elected 77
from among its nonpublic school representative members. Each 78
elected representative must be from a different administrative 79
region that is also different from the public member school 80
representatives elected under subparagraph 1. 81
3. The commissioner or his or her desi gnee from the 82
department executive staff. 83
4. Three members appointed by the President of the Senate, 84
three members appointed by the Speaker of the House of 85
Representatives, and two members appointed by the Governor, as 86
follows: 87
a.3. Two public member school representatives appointed 88
from different administrative regions. 89
b.4. Two nonpublic member school representatives appointed 90
from different administrative regions that are also different 91
than those represented by the public member school 92
representatives appointed under sub-subparagraph a. subparagraph 93
3. 94
c.5. Two representatives, one appointed from the two 95
northernmost administrative regions and one appointed from the 96
two southernmost administrative regions. 97
d.6. One district school superintenden t appointed from the 98
northernmost administrative region. 99
e.7. One district school board member appointed from the 100
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southernmost administrative region. 101
8. The commissioner or his or her designee from the 102
department executive staff. 103
(7) APPEALS.— 104
(a) The FHSAA shall establish a procedure of due process 105
which ensures each student the opportunity to appeal an 106
unfavorable ruling with regard to his or her eligibility to 107
compete. The initial appeal shall be made to a committee on 108
appeals within the administ rative region in which the student 109
lives. The FHSAA's bylaws shall establish the number, size, and 110
composition of each committee on appeals , which must have a 111
majority of its membership be representatives of member schools . 112
(b) No member of the board of directors is eligible to 113
serve on a committee on appeals. 114
(c) Members of a committee on appeals shall serve terms of 115
3 years and are eligible to succeed themselves only once. A 116
member of a committee on appeals may serve a maximum of 6 117
consecutive years. The FHSAA's bylaws shall establish a rotation 118
of terms to ensure that a majority of the members' terms do not 119
expire concurrently. 120
(d) The authority and duties of a committee on appeals 121
shall be to consider requests by member schools seeking 122
exceptions to bylaws and regulations, to hear undue hardship 123
eligibility cases filed by member schools on behalf of student 124
athletes, and to hear appeals filed by member schools or student 125
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athletes. Each committee on appeals must issue a decision on 126
appeals of determinations of ineligibility within 20 days after 127
any such appeal during the applicable sports season. 128
(e) A student athlete or member school that receives an 129
unfavorable ruling from a committee on appeals shall be entitled 130
to appeal that decision to the boa rd of directors at its next 131
regularly scheduled meeting or called meeting. The board of 132
directors shall have the authority to uphold, reverse, or amend 133
the decision of the committee on appeals. In all such cases, the 134
decision of the board of directors shal l be final. 135
(f) The FHSAA shall expedite the appeals process on 136
determinations of ineligibility so that disposition of the 137
appeal can be made before the end of the applicable sports 138
season, if possible. The expedited process must provide that the 139
FHSAA board of directors issue a decision within 20 days after 140
receipt of an appeal of a determination of ineligibility by the 141
committee on appeals. The FHSAA board of directors may conduct 142
meetings for the sole purpose of considering such pending 143
appeals. 144
(g) In any appeal from a decision on eligibility made by 145
the executive director or a designee, a school or student 146
athlete filing the appeal must be permitted to present 147
information and evidence that was not available at the time of 148
the initial determination o r if the determination was not made 149
by an unbiased, objective individual using a process allowing 150
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full due process rights to be heard and to present evidence. If 151
evidence is presented on appeal, a de novo decision must be made 152
by the committee or board hea ring the appeal, or the 153
determination may be suspended and the matter remanded for a new 154
determination based on all the evidence. If a de novo decision 155
is made on appeal, the decision must be made in writing, setting 156
forth the findings of fact and specific violation upon which the 157
decision is based. If a de novo decision is not required, the 158
decision appealed must be set aside if the decision on 159
ineligibility was not based on clear and convincing evidence. 160
Any further appeal shall be considered on a record that includes 161
all evidence presented. 162
(h) Decisions made by the committee on appeals, the 163
executive director, or his or her designee, and the FHSAA board 164
of directors must be posted online in a searchable format and in 165
compliance with ss. 1002.22 and 100 2.221. 166
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 167