BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Jack Scott, Chair
2005-2006 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1411
AUTHOR: Ortiz
AMENDED: May 1, 2006
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: May 3, 2006
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Interscholastic Athletics: Transfer Eligibility
SUMMARY
This bill allows students to transfer between high schools
and retain varsity athletic eligibility in sports in which
the student competed during the previous year.
BACKGROUND
The California Interscholastic Federation (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.
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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, 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.
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Allows a student to retain his or her eligibility to
participate in sports at the varsity level after his
or her first transfer in four years for any reason
(other than discipline) from one school to another
school subject to the following conditions:
a) The student, the student's parents or
guardians, and the principals of the schools from
which and to which the student transfers sign a
statement acknowledging that the student is not
transferring because of athletic recruitment;
and,
b) The signed statement has been forwarded to
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the appropriate CIF Section by the athletic
director of the school from which the student is
transferring.
2) Requires CIF Sections to give at least one "free pass"
of eligibility for any one transfer student, and
authorizes CIF Sections to give more than one "free
pass."
3) Prohibits eligibility from being granted to a student
in the same sport in which that student competed
during that same year. This prevents a student from
transferring after the regular season of a sport and
then playing for another school during the playoffs
for the same sport during the same year.
4) Allows a CIF Section to prohibit a coach or athletic
director found to have engaged in athletic recruitment
from coaching or participating in athletic activities
for one year after that finding has been made.
Currently, state CIF bylaws do not include provisions
to discipline coaches or athletic directors who
participate in recruitment.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) What's the problem ? This bill is a result of specific
situations in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Section where
different eligibility determinations were made for
students in similar transfer situations. Both
students transferred from the same school to the same
school. The first transfer student was denied
eligibility and a hardship waiver, and lost a CIF
Section appeal. The second student was denied
eligibility but was awarded a hardship waiver. The
object of this bill is to bring uniformity to
decisions that affect an entire year of athletic
eligibility for students.
2) Not just one "free-pass ." This bill allows a student
to maintain varsity eligibility after the first
transfer and allows CIF Sections to limit a student to
only one such transfer. This could result in
situations where some Sections allow only one transfer
but other Sections allow unlimited transfers. This
bill does prevent a student from competing in the same
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sport at different schools in the same year, but does
not prevent a student from playing football at one
school, badminton at another, and soccer at a third
school all in the same school year.
3) Similar transfer rules of the past . In 1999, the
Southern California and the Los Angeles City Sections
amended their transfer rules to allow students to
transfer once (without a change of address) without
losing athletic eligibility. Data from CIF shows the
requests for transfers increased steadily over a few
years. Both Sections changed their transfer rules
again in 2003 to remove the "one-time pass" and
requests for transfers decreased from over 7,300 to
2,122, suggesting that many of the transfers were
athletically motivated.
4) Related legislation . AB 2312 (Strickland) provides
that school districts, associations or consortia of
school districts, CIF, voluntary associations, or any
other entity that governs interscholastic athletics or
activities cannot prohibit a student who transfers to
a school from participating in interscholastic
athletics or activities at that school. AB 2312 is
scheduled for hearing in the Assembly Education
Committee on May 3, 2006.
SUPPORT
Westchester High School
Individuals (sponsor)
OPPOSITION
Acalanes Union High School District
Army and Navy Academy
Association of California School Administrators
Bay Shore Athletic League
Bellarmine-Jefferson High School
Berkeley High School Athletics
Cabrillo High School
California Interscholastic Federation
California League of High Schools
California School Boards Association
Calvary Chapel High School (Pacific Grove)
Calvary Chapel High School (Santa Ana)
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Capistrano Unified School District
Central Union High School
Champion Christian School
Chowchilla Union High School District
Clovis Unified School District
Dana Hills High School
De Anza High School
De La Salle High School
El Camino Fundamental High School
El Diamante High School
Fremont Christian School
Hemet Unified School District
Irvine Unified School District
Kastner Intermediate School
Le Grand Union High School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Martin Luther King High School
Merced County Office of Education
Mercy Catholic High School
Middletown High School
Moreau Catholic High School
National City Adult School
North Coast Section, CIF
Oak Grove High School
Palma High School
Palo Alto Unified School District
Pasadena Unified School District
Pomona High School
Porterville Unified School District
Ramona Unified School District
Rancho Alamitos High School
Rancho Verde High School
Rialto Unified School District
Riverside Arlington Poly High School
Riverside County Schools Advocacy Association
Riverside North Poly High School
Riverside Poly High School
Riverside Unified School District
Saint Lawrence Academy
Salinas Union High School District
San Clemente High School
San Diego Unified School District
Santa Cruz High School
Selma Unified School District
Sequoia High School
School Innovations & Advocacy
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Small School Districts' Association
Sonora High School
Strathmore High School
Terra Nova High School
Tesoro High School
Torrey Pines High School
Tulare Western High School
Westlake High School
Willits Unified School District
Winters Joint Unified School District
Individuals