Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 281 - Education Department › Title VI - Interscholastic Competition › Chapter 36 - Extracurricular Interscholastic Competition › Rule 281-36.8 - Eligibility Requirements

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1)
Local
				eligibility and student conduct rules.
Local boards of education may
				impose additional eligibility requirements not in conflict with these rules.
				Nothing herein is to be construed to prevent a local school board from
				declaring a student ineligible to participate in interscholastic competition by
				reason of the student's violation of rules adopted by the school pursuant to
				Iowa Code sections 279.8 and
				279.9. 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 compete for the member or associate member school under
				these rules.
(2)
Scholarship rules.
a. All
				contestants are to 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 who have
				attained the age of 20 years old are not eligible.
c. All contestants will 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" will 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 is used in determining eligibility. No student is
				to 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
				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" means 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 20 consecutive
				calendar days, unless the student has already served a period of ineligibility
				for 20 consecutive calendar days in another school-sponsored activity. A
				student will not serve multiple periods of ineligibility because of a failing
				grade.
d. A student with
				a disability who has an individualized education program will not be denied
				eligibility on the basis of scholarship if the student is making adequate
				progress, as determined by school officials, toward the goals on the student's
				individualized education program, unless the course in which the student
				receives a failing grade has no relationship to those goals.
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 that 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 will provide
				appropriate interventions and necessary academic supports for students who fail
				or who are at risk to fail.
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 precludes 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 is eligible to participate in
				any given interscholastic 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 does not affect the student's
				ineligibility. All failing grades will be reported to any school to which the
				student transfers.