State legislators, UHSAA at odds over proposed bill

State legislators hoped to give the Utah High School Activities Association more muscle, but UHSAA officials say a proposed bill attempting to have the Utah State School Board absorb the rulemaking and enforcement aspects of the association will essentially destroy the nearly 100-year-old organization.

"I'm a little baffled at your reaction," said Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville. "We're trying to validate the Activities Association by allowing the board to adopt (the association's) rules as part of their responsibility for oversight of schools. How is that dismantling the association?"

UHSAA attorney Mark Van Wagoner said the bill would gut the association.

"You would dismantle the association," he said. "That's what you're doing with this. If you are taking the ability to write, adopt and enforce our rules from the association ... That's what we do. We've had dozens of court challenges over the years and we've never lost a case. There is no reason, no basis to take this responsibility from the association and force it on the state board of education."

Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, wrote the legislation hoping to address two concerns. First, law makers want to put into statute their desire that public schools accept private, home school and charter school students into their athletic programs and activities. While the UHSAA created rules that now allow this, some school districts have not allowed it.

Secondly, legislators said they received a legal opinion that the rules of the UHSAA may be unenforceable under the current statute that simply says the State School board shall govern the participation of non-resident students in consultation with the UHSAA. Currently the state school board defers those duties to the UHSAA. And while legislators worried that might not be good enough, Van Wagoner assured them that it is.

"Our legislative researchers have said that the UHSAA rules are unenforceable because they're not board rules," Ferry explained.

Van Wagoner disagreed with that assessment.

"I take issue that they have to do this," he said. "We've been enforcing these bylaws administratively and in the judicial system, and I've been doing it for 33 years. The state school board can't enforce the bylaws of a private organization. You're right about that. But extracurricular activities are governed by the association ... That's all the association does."