Bill Caption

Relating to equal opportunity for access by home-schooled students to University Interscholastic League-sponsored activities; authorizing a fee.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to the State.

Local Government

School districts would experience costs for uniforms, equipment, travel, and other costs related to the participation of students in UIL activities. While districts have the authority to charge students for many of these costs, districts that do not charge all of their students for participation would not be authorized to adopt a policy that established fees for home-schooled children only.

There would be some administrative costs to collect academic proficiency information every other year and to accept periodic academic progress reports to determine continued eligibility to participate in UIL activities.

Bill Analysis

(The second chamber sponsor is Representative Nichols.)

SB 2046 would require public schools that participated in University Interscholastic League (UIL) activities to provide home-schooled students that resided in their attendance area and who otherwise met league eligibility standards with the opportunity to participate in UIL activities along with students enrolled in the school.

Vote Recommendation Notes

This bill affirms the principle of limited government and individual liberty. Parents or guardians of home-schooled students pay taxes to school districts each year, and yet, do not receive any services because of their choice to home-school, often due to the quality of state education. Prohibiting home-schooled students from participating in their school district's league is not justifiable since their parents' or guardians' tax dollars pay for these services. For this reason, we support SB 2046.