Thursday, January 22, 2015

Bill Could Boost Athletic Participation In Small Schools


The past decade has seen declining student participation in athletics, especially at smaller schools.  Dorchester High has fallen victim to this trend, losing its own Orange and Black football and wrestling teams two years ago.

Today, we learned of one state lawmaker's proposal to help address the issue.

The news wires are reporting that a bill (LB103) in the Nebraska Legislature would allow home schooled and other students in Nebraska could be on public schools’ sports teams.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Bill Kintner of Omaha, is essentially an extension of an existing law, which allows students in private, denominational or parochial schools to be part-time students in public schools within their district. Under LB103, those students could also take part in the public schools’ extracurricular activities, like sports teams.

The bill received a hearing earlier this week.  While there were many supporters of the bill, two people testified in opposition to the bill, Rhonda Blanford-Green, executive director of Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA), and Brian Maher, the Kearney- based District IV NSAA director. 

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