Florida Senate - 2025 CS for CS for SB 248 By the Committees on Judiciary; and Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Simon 590-02600-25 2025248c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to student participation in 3 interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular 4 sports; amending s. 1006.15, F.S.; providing that an 5 activity or a sport must meet specified requirements; 6 specifying conditions for a home education student to 7 participate in interscholastic athletics; revising the 8 criteria a private school student must meet to 9 participate in a sport at a Florida High School 10 Athletic Association (FHSAA) member school; deleting a 11 provision limiting which non-FHSAA member private 12 school students are eligible to participate in FHSAA 13 sports; providing an effective date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1.Subsection (2), paragraph (c) of subsection (3), 18 and paragraphs (a), (e), and (g) of subsection (8) of section 19 1006.15, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 20 1006.15Student standards for participation in 21 interscholastic and intrascholastic extracurricular student 22 activities; regulation. 23 (2)Interscholastic extracurricular student activities are 24 an important complement to the academic curriculum. 25 Participation in a comprehensive extracurricular and academic 26 program contributes to student development of the social and 27 intellectual skills necessary to become a well-rounded adult. As 28 used in this section, the term extracurricular means any 29 school-authorized or education-related activity occurring during 30 or outside the regular instructional school day. In the 31 determination of whether a school offers an activity or a sport, 32 the activity or sport must meet the designation requirements of 33 s. 1006.205(3)(a). 34 (3) 35 (c)1.An individual home education student is eligible to 36 participate at the public school to which the student would be 37 assigned according to district school board attendance area 38 policies or which the student could choose to attend pursuant to 39 s. 1002.31, or may develop an agreement to participate at a 40 private school, in the interscholastic extracurricular 41 activities of that school, provided the following conditions are 42 met: 43 a.1.The home education student must meet the requirements 44 of the home education program pursuant to s. 1002.41. 45 b.2.During the period of participation at a school, the 46 home education student must demonstrate educational progress as 47 required in paragraph (b) in all subjects taken in the home 48 education program by a method of evaluation agreed upon by the 49 parent and the school principal which may include: review of the 50 students work by a certified teacher chosen by the parent; 51 grades earned through correspondence; grades earned in courses 52 taken at a Florida College System institution, university, or 53 trade school; standardized test scores above the 35th 54 percentile; or any other method designated in s. 1002.41. 55 c.3.The home education student must meet the same 56 residency requirements as other students in the school at which 57 he or she participates. 58 d.4.The home education student must meet the same 59 standards of acceptance, behavior, and performance as required 60 of other students in extracurricular activities. 61 e.5.The student must register with the school his or her 62 intent to participate in interscholastic extracurricular 63 activities as a representative of the school before 64 participation. A home education student must be able to 65 participate in curricular activities if that is a requirement 66 for an extracurricular activity. 67 f.6.A student who transfers from a home education program 68 to a public school before or during the first grading period of 69 the school year is academically eligible to participate in 70 interscholastic extracurricular activities during the first 71 grading period provided the student has a successful evaluation 72 from the previous school year, pursuant to sub-subparagraph b. 73 subparagraph 2. 74 g.7.Any public school or private school student who has 75 been unable to maintain academic eligibility for participation 76 in interscholastic extracurricular activities is ineligible to 77 participate in such activities as a home education student until 78 the student has successfully completed one grading period in 79 home education pursuant to sub-subparagraph b. subparagraph 2. 80 to become eligible to participate as a home education student. 81 2.An individual home education student is eligible to 82 participate on an interscholastic athletic team at any public 83 school in the school district in which the student resides, 84 provided the student meets the conditions specified in sub 85 subparagraphs a. through g. 86 (8)(a)The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) 87 shall, in cooperation with each district school board and its 88 member private schools, facilitate a program in which a middle 89 school or high school student who attends a private school is 90 eligible to participate in an interscholastic or intrascholastic 91 sport at a member public high school, a member public middle 92 school, a member 6-12 public school, or a member private school, 93 as appropriate for the private school students grade level, if: 94 1.The private school in which the student is enrolled is 95 not a member of the FHSAA or the private school in which the 96 student is enrolled is a member of the FHSAA and does not offer 97 the sport in which the student wishes to participate. 98 2.The private school student meets the guidelines for the 99 conduct of the program established by the FHSAAs board of 100 directors and the district school board or member private 101 school. At a minimum, such guidelines must provide a deadline 102 for each sport by which the private school students parents 103 must register with the member school in writing their intent for 104 their child to participate at that school in the sport. 105 (e)Any non-FHSAA member private school that has a student 106 who wishes to participate in this program must make all student 107 records, including, but not limited to, academic, financial, 108 disciplinary, and attendance records, available upon request of 109 the FHSAA. 110 (g)Only students who are enrolled in non-FHSAA member 111 private schools consisting of 200 students or fewer are eligible 112 to participate in the program in any given academic year. 113 Section 2.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.