BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2312
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 10, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Jackie Goldberg, Chair
AB 2312 (Strickland) - As Amended: May 8, 2006
SUBJECT : Pupil transfer policy: interscholastic athletics and
activities
SUMMARY : Prohibits school districts, associations or consortia
of school districts, the California Interscholastic Federation
(CIF), voluntary associations, or any other entity that governs
interscholastic athletics or activities from prohibiting a pupil
who transfers to a school from participating in interscholastic
athletics or activities at that school, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a pupil to transfer to a school and participate in
interscholastic activities if it is the pupil's first time
transferring or if the pupil is transferring to his or her
neighborhood high school to which they were originally
assigned at the beginning of the 9th grade.
2)Authorizes any of the entities described in the bill, to
prohibit a pupil who transfers to a school from participating
in interscholastic activities if it is based on disciplinary
actions.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the CIF as a voluntary organization consisting of
school and school-related personnel with responsibility for
administering interscholastic athletic activities in secondary
schools.
2)Specifies that the State Department of Education (SDE) has
certain authority over interscholastic activities including
that if the SDE states that a school district, an association,
or consortium of school districts, or the CIF is not in
compliance with state or federal law, the SDE may require the
school district, association, or consortium, or the CIF to
adjust its policy so that it is in compliance.
3)Prohibits the SDE from determining the specific policy that a
school district, association, or consortium, or the CIF must
AB 2312
Page 2
adopt in order to comply with state and federal laws.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to Legislative Counsel, this bill is
non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : Reconsideration and author's amendments . This bill
was heard in the Assembly Education Committee on May 3, 2006.
This analysis reflects author's amendments taken during that
hearing. The bill failed passage with a vote of 1-8. This bill
is up for reconsideration. Committee staff has been notified
that the author plans to further amend the bill to narrow the
bill to only apply to "non-core" sports. Specifically, leave the
following boys and girls high school sports teams subject to the
current CIF transfer rules: baseball, football, softball,
basketball, and track & field. They also plan to amend the bill
to give the CIF authority to override the one-time transfer rule
if there is a finding of undue influence. The committee rules
for reconsideration do not allow presentation on a bill that is
up for reconsideration. The committee will vote for the measure
"as proposed to be amended".
Background . The CIF is a voluntary organization of school
principals, school board members, school superintendents and
school athletics directors. There are 10 CIF Sections (regional
governance structure). The CIF operates under statewide bylaws,
and school districts and local CIF Sections develop their own
Section bylaws that are under the umbrella of the state bylaws.
CIF state bylaws, in part:
1)Provide that a student who transfers between high schools, but
does not have a bona fide change of residence, is ineligible
for varsity level competition for 1 year in sports in which
the student has competed in any level during the previous
year. Hardship waivers may be granted in cases where an
"unforeseeable, unavoidable and uncorrectable act, condition
or event" imposes a "severe and non-athletic burden" upon the
student or the student's family. CIF bylaws allow the
"transfer penalty" to be waived based on individual CIF
Section hardship allowances and if the CIF Section establishes
rules and procedures to do so.
2)Require certain certification from the principals and athletic
directors of schools from which a student transfers, as well
as the head coach of the school to which a student transfers,
AB 2312
Page 3
that recruitment was not a factor in the student's transfer.
3)Authorize a student to be declared ineligible for any sport
for one year and the school's CIF standing to be jeopardized
due to the use of undue influence to convince a student to
attend a certain school.
4)Do not include provisions to discipline coaches or athletic
directors who participate in recruitment (essentially because
the CIF is not the employer and has no authority to discipline
school employees).
Each CIF Section has its own guidelines for determining hardship
and for the appeal of decisions to deny a hardship waiver and as
a result, decisions vary from Section to Section. Appeals may
also be made to the state CIF after the local appeal process has
been exhausted.
Public or private schools may choose not to abide by CIF bylaws
but would be prohibited from participating in the CIF Section
and competing against other area schools. There is no system for
interscholastic athletic participation and competition other
than CIF.
In 1999, two of the largest CIF Sections (Southern California
and Los Angeles) amended their transfer rules, at the direction
of their member schools. This amendment allowed students to
transfer once without a change of residence by the student and
family during a student's four years of high school. Both
sections found that the rule change resulted in several thousand
athletes transferring annually, which caused displacement in
local schools. According to statistics from the Southern
California Section, this change resulted in over 7,300 athletic
transfer related requests. In 2003, both sections reversed their
policy to include restrictions with an appeal process for
students who transfer without their family moving. In 2004,
transfer requests for the Southern California Section fell to
2,122.
Related legislation . SB 1411 (Ortiz) would require all
voluntary interscholastic athletic associations of which
secondary schools are members to permit a pupil to retain
immediate eligibility to participate in any sport after his or
her first transfer for any reason from one school to another
school, as specified, unless the pupil transfers for
AB 2312
Page 4
disciplinary reasons. The bill also would require all voluntary
interscholastic athletic associations of which secondary schools
are members to authorize the school from which the pupil
transfers to protest this automatic eligibility to the
association of which it is a member if the school believes the
pupil was recruited to transfer to the other school in order to
participate in a sport in which the pupil participated at the
school from which the pupil transferred. This bill failed
passage in the Senate Education Committee with a vote of 2-8.
Arguments in support . According to the author, "Current rules
about eligibility for athletes switching school vary between
each of the 10 CIF Sections. Each of the 10 CIF Sections place
restrictions on high school students, prohibiting them from
being instantly eligible to play sports on varsity teams if they
elect to transfer to another school."
Arguments in opposition . According to the Los Angeles Unified
School District, "This legislation would foster a process by
which student-athletes and their parents could choose to change
schools solely for the purpose of athletic eligibility, without
any regard for the stability of the academic program. For
example, a student-athlete could attend and play on a fall sport
team at one school, and switch schools a second time within a
school year and play another sport at a different school in the
same year. An open transfer policy granting varsity athletic
eligibility, such as would be provided by this bill, would have
other negative repercussions, such as inequities in strength of
programs, decreasing the opportunities for residential
student-athletes to qualify for their school teams, and
increasing the motivation of illegal recruitment of
student-athletes on the part of some coaches. This legislation
is particularly of great concern for the LAUSD due to the close
proximity of our schools to each other. Current state law
already allows parents and student-athletes to select a school
of their choice. Every incoming ninth grade student is eligible
to enroll, under certain conditions, and participate in high
school athletics at any school within the district, regardless
of where he or she lives. The current transfer rule allows a
student-athlete who transfers after the ninth grade to play
restricted to the junior varsity level for one year after the
transfer. This rule is fair and protects the student-athletes
at the school who have earned their place on the team."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 2312
Page 5
Support
Several individual letters
Opposition
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Interscholastic Federation
California League of High Schools
California School Boards Association
Los Angeles Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District
Selma Unified School District
Small School Districts Association
Over 40 individual letters from principals and athletic
directors for both public and private
schools.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Padilla / ED. / (916) 319-2087