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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 352 FILED ON: 1/8/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 719 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Jeffrey Rosario Turco |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to fairness in high school athletics. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Jeffrey Rosario Turco19th Suffolk1/8/2025 1 of 1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 352 FILED ON: 1/8/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 719 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Turco of Winthrop, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 719) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Jeffrey Rosario Turco for legislation to authorize schools and students participating in certain |
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| 20 | 20 | | athletic programs to seek arbitration to review athletic programs eligibility decisions. Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to fairness in high school athletics. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 47A the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 47B. (a) A school or student participating in an athletic program pursuant to |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4section 47 may seek arbitration to review athletic program eligibility decisions taken by the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5school committee or its authorized representative. |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6 (b) The arbitration shall be conducted by 1 or more arbitrators serving on the American |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7Arbitration Association’s National Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators. Each party shall bear the |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8cost of its own representation, and all other costs and fees of the arbitration shall be split equally |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9among the parties involved. The parties shall only commence arbitration after the exhaustion of |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10all remedies internal to the school committee or its authorized representative. The department of |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11elementary and secondary education shall promulgate regulations setting all other minimum |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12standards for neutral third-party arbitration. |
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