Florida Senate - 2016 SB 1026
By Senator Simmons
10-00073-16 20161026__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to high school athletics; amending s.
3 1006.20, F.S.; providing requirements regarding fees
4 and contest receipts collected by the Florida High
5 School Athletic Association (FHSAA); requiring the
6 FHSAA to allow a school to join the FHSAA as a full
7 time member or on a per-sport basis; prohibiting the
8 FHSAA from taking any retributory or discriminatory
9 action against specified schools; authorizing the
10 Commissioner of Education to identify other
11 associations in compliance with specified provisions;
12 providing an effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 1006.20, Florida
17 Statutes, is amended to read:
18 1006.20 Athletics in public K-12 schools.—
19 (1) GOVERNING NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The Florida High
20 School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is designated as the
21 governing nonprofit organization of athletics in Florida public
22 schools. If the FHSAA fails to meet the provisions of this
23 section, the commissioner shall designate a nonprofit
24 organization to govern athletics with the approval of the State
25 Board of Education. The FHSAA is not a state agency as defined
26 in s. 120.52 but is. The FHSAA shall be subject to ss. 1006.15
27 1006.19. Any special event fees; sanctioning fees, including
28 third-party sanctioning fees; or contest receipts collected
29 annually by the FHSAA may not exceed its actual costs to perform
30 the function or duty that is the subject of or justification for
31 the fee the provisions of s. 1006.19. A private school that
32 wishes to engage in high school athletic competition with a
33 public high school may become a member of the FHSAA. Any high
34 school in the state, including private schools, traditional
35 public schools, charter schools, virtual schools, and home
36 education cooperatives, may become a member of the FHSAA and
37 participate in the activities of the FHSAA. However, Membership
38 in the FHSAA is not mandatory for any school. The FHSAA shall
39 allow a school the option of joining the association as a full
40 time member or on a per-sport basis and may not prohibit or
41 discourage any school from simultaneously maintaining membership
42 in the FHSAA and another athletic association. The FHSAA may not
43 deny or discourage interscholastic competition between its
44 member schools and nonmember non-FHSAA member Florida schools,
45 including members of another athletic association governing
46 organization, and may not take any retributory or discriminatory
47 action against any of its member schools that seek to
48 participate in interscholastic competition with nonmember non
49 FHSAA member Florida schools or any of its member schools that
50 seek membership in other associations for a sport for which they
51 are not a member of the FHSAA. The FHSAA may not unreasonably
52 withhold its approval of an application to become an affiliate
53 member of the National Federation of State High School
54 Associations submitted by any other association organization
55 that governs interscholastic athletic competition in this state
56 which meets the requirements of this section. The commissioner
57 may identify other associations that govern interscholastic
58 athletic competition in compliance with this section The bylaws
59 of the FHSAA are the rules by which high school athletic
60 programs in its member schools, and the students who participate
61 in them, are governed, unless otherwise specifically provided by
62 statute. For the purposes of this section, “high school”
63 includes grades 6 through 12.
64 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.