Eligibility Procedures Interscholastic Activities

1. A student must receive credit in at least 4 subjects at all times.

2. A student must pass all and make adequate progress toward graduation to remain eligible.

3. If a student is not passing all at end of a final grading period, student is ineligible for first period of 30 consecutive calendar days in the interscholastic athletic event in which the student is a contestant. There is no requirement that the student competed in the sport previously. Students in baseball or softball have the same penalty as all other students.

4.  Students are not allowed to join any sport after the legal competition date of the season and apply their ineligibility to that sport in order to avoid the consequence during another sport. A student must complete a season or sport in good standing for an ineligibility period to be accepted. If a student drops out of an activity prior to the completion of the period of ineligibility, the entire penalty will be applied to the next activity the student participates in, subject to the 12-month limitation above. 

5. If a student is not passing all at any check point (if school checks at any time other than the end of a grading period), period of ineligibility and conditions of reinstatement are left to the school.

6. Schools must check grades at the end of each grading period; otherwise, a school determines if and how often it checks grades.

7. A student with a disability and an IEP is judged based on progress made toward IEP goals.

8. The ability to use summer school or other means to make up failing grades for eligibility purposes not available. The rule now also requires that all original failing grades (even those remediated for purposes other than athletic eligibility) be reported to any school to which the student transfers.

Verbatim language of rule

36.15(2) Scholarship rules.

a. All contestants must be enrolled and in good standing in a school that is a member or associate member in good standing of the organization sponsoring the event.

b. All contestants must be under 20 years of age.

c. All contestants shall be enrolled students of the school in good standing. They shall receive credit in at least four subjects, each of one period or “hour” or the equivalent thereof, at all times. To qualify under this rule, a “subject” must meet the requirements of 281—Chapter 12. Coursework taken from a postsecondary institution and for which a school district or accredited nonpublic school grants academic credit toward high school graduation shall be used in determining eligibility. No student shall be denied

eligibility if the student’s school program deviates from the traditional two-semester school year.

(1) Each contestant shall be passing all coursework for which credit is given and shall be making adequate progress toward graduation requirements at the end of each grading period. Grading period, graduation requirements, and any interim periods of ineligibility are determined by local policy. For purposes of this subrule, “grading period” shall mean the period of time at the end of which a student in grades 9 through 12 receives a final grade and course credit is awarded for passing grades.

(2) If at the end of any grading period a contestant is given a failing grade in any course for which credit is awarded, the contestant is ineligible to dress for and compete in the next occurring interscholastic athletic contests and competitions in which the contestant is a contestant for 30 consecutive calendar days.

d. A student with a disability who has an individualized education program shall not be denied eligibility on the basis of scholarship if the student is making adequate progress, as determined by school officials, towards the goals and objectives on the student’s individualized education program.

e. A student who meets all other qualifications may be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics for a maximum of eight consecutive semesters upon entering the ninth grade for the first time. However, a student who engages in athletics during the summer following eighth grade is also eligible to compete during the summer following twelfth grade. Extenuating circumstances, such as health, may be the basis for an appeal to the executive board which may extend the eligibility of a student when the executive

board finds that the interests of the student and interscholastic athletics will be benefited.

f. All member schools shall provide appropriate interventions and necessary academic supports for students who fail or who are at risk to fail, and shall report to the department regarding those interventions on the comprehensive school improvement plan.

g. A student is academically eligible upon entering the ninth grade.

h. A student is not eligible to participate in an interscholastic sport if the student has, in that same sport, participated in a contest with or against, or trained with, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), or other collegiate governing organization’s sanctioned team. A student may not participate with or against high school graduates if the graduates represent a collegiate institution or if the event is sanctioned or sponsored by a collegiate institution. Nothing in this subrule shall preclude a student from participating in a one-time tryout with or against members of a college team with permission from the member school’s administration and the respective collegiate institution’s athletic administration.

i. No student shall be eligible to participate in any given interscholastic athletic sport if the student has engaged in that sport professionally.

j. The local superintendent of schools, with the approval of the local board of education, may give permission to a dropout student to participate in athletics upon return to school if the student is otherwise eligible under these rules.

k. Remediation of a failing grade by way of summer school or other means shall not affect the student’s ineligibility. All failing grades shall be reported to any school to which the student transfers.

Other related rules

281—36.1(280), definition of “compete” added to definitions:

“Compete” means participating in an interscholastic contest or competition, and includes dressing in full team uniform for the interscholastic contest or competition, as well as participating in pre-game warm-up exercises with team members. “Compete” does not include any managerial, recordkeeping, or other noncompetitor functions performed by a student on behalf of a member or associate member school.

281—36.15(1) amended to add the following sentence:

A member or associate member school shall not allow any student, including any transfer student, to compete until such time as the school has reasonably reliable proof that the student is eligible to complete for the member or associate member school under these rules.

• Revised 3/92; 11/92; 11/93; 7/10; 8/11