House Bill 498

AN ACT TO CREATE A NEW CODE SECTION TO BE KNOWN AS THE "TIM TEBOW ACT"; TO DEFINE THE TERMS "HOMESCHOOL" AND "INTERSCHOLASTIC EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY"; TO AUTHORIZE STUDENTS BEING EDUCATED IN HOMESCHOOLS TO PARTICIPATE IN INTERSCHOLASTIC EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS; TO PRESCRIBE CERTAIN CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A STUDENT BEING EDUCATED IN A HOMESCHOOL MAY PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC SCHOOL INTERSCHOLASTIC EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES; TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST HOMESCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE SELECTION OF TEAMS FOR SUCH ACTIVITIES; TO SPECIFY A WAITING PERIOD FOR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION WHEN A STUDENT TRANSFERS FROM A PUBLIC SCHOOL TO A HOMESCHOOL; TO PROVIDE THAT PARTICIPATION IN AN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY IS A PRIVILEGE AND NOT A RIGHT; TO AUTHORIZE HOMESCHOOL STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT FAMILIES TO ORGANIZE AND FORM EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY TEAMS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPETING AGAINST PUBLIC SCHOOLS; TO REQUIRE THE STATE ASSOCIATION GOVERNING PUBLIC SCHOOL ACTIVITIES TO ADOPT RULES AND REGULATIONS TO FACILITATE THE HOMESCHOOL TEAMS' PARTICIPATION IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY COMPETITIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Tim Tebow Act."

(2) As used in this section, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed in this subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(a) "Homeschool" means a nonpublic school in which one or more children of not more than two (2) families or households receive full-time supervised academic instruction from a parent, legal guardian or member of either household.

(b) "Interscholastic extracurricular activity" or "extracurricular activity" means participation in a school-authorized academic, choral, band or sports team practice or competition.

(3) (a) A student being educated in a homeschool is eligible to participate in interscholastic extracurricular activities sponsored by or engaged in by the public school to which the student would be assigned according to the attendance policies of the school district in which the student resides or which the student could choose to attend pursuant to any open enrollment policies in the same school district. A student who is selected under this section to participate in an extracurricular activity must:

(i) Pay any participation or activity fee in an amount equal to the fee charged to public school students;

(ii) Adhere to the same standards of behavior, responsibility, performance and code of conduct as public school participants in the extracurricular activity;

(iii) Adhere to the same academic standards as other participants, with the student's performance in relation to those standards confirmed by appropriate documentation provided by the student to the public school in which the student will participate in the extracurricular activity;

(iv) Register with the school the student's intent to participate in the extracurricular activity as a representative of the school before the beginning date of the semester during which the extracurricular activity in which the student wishes to participate is offered; and

(v) Comply with the same physical examination, immunization, insurance, age and semester eligibility requirements as public school students participating in the extracurricular activity.

(b) A student who transfers from a public school to a homeschool may not participate on interscholastic extracurricular teams until twelve (12) months after the date of transfer.

(c) Transportation of a student being educated in a homeschool to a public school to participate in interscholastic extracurricular activities is the responsibility of the parent, guardian or student. The student may use the same transportation as public school students so long as additional expenses are not incurred by the school district.

(d) In selecting the members of an interscholastic extracurricular team, a public school may not discriminate against a student being educated in a homeschool who is eligible to participate in an interscholastic extracurricular activity under this section.

(e) A public school team or group may not be impeded from competing against any other public school team or group solely because the public school team or group includes students being educated in a homeschool who are eligible to participate in an interscholastic extracurricular activity under this section.

(4) Participation in an interscholastic extracurricular activity is a privilege and not a right. Nothing in this act may be interpreted to create a cause of action on behalf of a student against a public school or public school district official or against an interscholastic extracurricular activities association.

SECTION 2. (1) For purposes of this section, the terms "homeschool," "interscholastic extracurricular activity" and "extracurricular activity" have the meanings respectively ascribed to those terms in Section 1 of this act.

(2) Students being educated in a homeschool may elect to organize and form interscholastic extracurricular activity teams comprised of students from different families or households who are being educated in a homeschool for the purpose of engaging in academic and athletic extracurricular competitions with public schools.

(3) Interscholastic extracurricular activity teams comprised solely of students being educated in homeschools must be allowed to participate in local, regional and state competitions against public school teams if the following conditions are met:

(a) The homeschool team complies with all rules and regulations governing participation in the specific interscholastic extracurricular activity which are required of public school teams;

(b) The members of the homeschool team are required to adhere to the same standards of behavior, responsibility, performance and code of conduct as public school participants in the extracurricular activity;

(c) The members of the homeschool team are required to adhere to the same academic standards and grade requirements as other participants; and

(d) The members of the homeschool team comply with the same physical examination, immunization, insurance, age and semester eligibility requirements as public school students participating in the extracurricular activity.

(3) An interscholastic extracurricular activity team comprised solely of students being educated in homeschools shall express its intent to participate in a public school extracurricular activity competition to the association responsible for the governance of academic and athletic extracurricular competitions among secondary schools throughout the state. The association shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to facilitate the participation of homeschool student teams in public school extracurricular activity competitions, which rules must include the date by which notice of a homeschool team's intent to participate in a particular extracurricular activity must be received by the association in order for the homeschool team to be included in the competition schedule.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.