Delaware General Assembly

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EDUCATION AND INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE :

(1) "Association" means the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association.

(2) "Board" means the Board of Directors of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association.

(3) "Department" means the Delaware Department of Education.

(4) "Member school" means a full or associate member school of the Association.

(5) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education.

(6) "State Board" means the State Board of Education.

§303. Rules and regulations.

(a) The Association shall be a unit of the Department of Education. To these ends, the General Assembly intends for the Association to work in consultation and cooperation with the Department of Education in the development of rules and regulations relating to member school interscholastic athletics. The Association and the Department of Education are authorized to develop all necessary policies and procedures to implement the provisions of this Act.

(b) The Association in consultation and cooperation with the Department shall develop rules and regulations relating to secondary and middle school interscholastic athletics for schools in the State of Delaware. Such regulations shall include the regulation of athletic programs of all public schools in the State of Delaware and such non-public schools as may elect to become member or associate member schools as provided in regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter, eligibility of students to participate in interscholastic athletes, non-school competitions, coaches and sports officials of interscholastic sports in the State of Delaware, sanctioning of school team competitions, and other matters affecting interscholastic athletics in the State of Delaware. However, the Association shall not approve any rule or regulation that denies a student the right to simultaneously try out for, practice with, or participate in games on a team similar to the school team on which he or she is a member, except that such dual membership and participation on a similar team shall be authorized only upon written consent by the parent, custodian or guardian of the student. Such written consent shall clearly state the authority to participate on a particularly specified team of a designated organization or institution.

(c) The Association shall adopt rules and regulations as to which sports over which they have jurisdiction.

§304. Other duties, powers and authority.

The Board shall have such duties, powers and authority as may be necessary for the enforcement of this chapter and for the enforcement of the Department's rules and regulations made pursuant hereto, which shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) To establish annual membership fees;

(2) To establish standing committees;

(3) To determine the existence of violations of the rights and regulations by full and associate member schools and penalize violations by official reprimand, placement on probation, fine, suspension or other action as deemed appropriate;

(4) To investigate, conduct hearings and take action on alleged violations committed by schools, athletes, coaches, administrators, officials or spectators of the Department's rules and regulations made pursuant hereto;

(5) To interpret the Department's rules and regulations made pursuant hereto, conduct hearings and take action on requests for a waiver of the rules and regulations.

§305. Composition of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association.

(a) The Board shall consist of 17 voting members and one nonvoting member as follows:

(1) Two school district superintendents/assistant superintendents who shall be residents of different counties.

(2) Two representatives of school district boards of education who shall be residents of different counties.

(3) Three public school principals/assistant principals, 1 of which shall be from each county.

(4) Two public school athletic directors/coaches who shall be residents of different counties.

(5) Two non-public school representatives of which 1 shall be a secondary school administrator and 1 shall either be a secondary school athletic director or coach.

(6) One Department of Education representative, which may be the Secretary of Education or his/her designee, who shall be the nonvoting member.

(7) Six public members of which 2 shall be from each county. The public members shall be residents of Delaware for a minimum of 3 years, shall be knowledgeable about athletics, but shall not be employees of any member school or have a material financial interest in providing goods or services to the Association or any member school.

(b) Voting board members shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor shall take into consideration geographic representation, knowledge of athletics in general and an interest in high school athletics in deciding whether or not to appoint a nominee.

(c) All members of the Board, with the exception of the Secretary of Education or his/her designee, who shall be a permanent member, shall be appointed for a three-year term. The terms of the members of the Board shall be staggered so that the terms of no more than 6 members shall expire in any given year. Board members shall be paid $100.00 per meeting.

(d) Every person who is a member of the Board of Directors of the Delaware Secondary School Athletic Association shall continue to serve on the new Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association's Board until the scheduled expiration of that person's term unless replaced by the Governor before the scheduled expiration of his or her term. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the former Board shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Governor shall appoint to the initial Board 2 public members, one whose principal place of residence is in New Castle County and one whose principal place of residence is in Kent County, whose term shall expire 1 year after the members' initial appointment; 2 public members, one whose principal place of residence is in New Castle County and one whose principal place of residence is in Sussex County, whose term shall expire 2 years after the members' initial appointment; and 2 public members, one whose principal place of residence is in Kent County and one whose principal place of residence is in Sussex County, whose term shall expire 3 years after the members' initial appointment. At each annual appointment made after the initial classification and appointment of these 6 public members, the appointment shall be for a full term of 3 years to succeed the member whose term has expired.

(f) A member of the Board shall serve until his or her successor is appointed. A member appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the remainder of the term of the member whom he or she replaces.

(g) A person who has never served on the Board may be appointed to the Board 2 consecutive times, but no such person shall thereafter be eligible for 2 consecutive appointments. No person who has been twice appointed to the Board, or who has served on the Board for 6 years within any 9-year period, shall again be appointed to the Board until an interim period of at least 1 term has expired since such person last served.

(h) Any act or vote by a person appointed in violation of subsection (g) of this section shall be invalid. An amendment or revision of this chapter is not sufficient cause for any appointment or attempted appointment in violation of subsection (g) of this section, unless such amendment or revision amends this section to permit such an appointment.

(i) No school district or non-public school shall have more than one member on the Board.

(j) A member who fails to attend 3 consecutive meetings, unless excused for good cause by a majority of the members of the Board, or fails to attend at least half of all regular business meetings of the Board during any calendar year or who ceases to be a resident of the county in which such member resided when appointed to the board shall automatically upon such occurrence be deemed to have resigned from office and a replacement shall be appointed.

§306. Quorum and voting.

A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. No motion, resolution or other act of the Association may be adopted without agreement of the majority of the whole Board.

§307. Chairperson; Administration.

(a) The Board shall elect annually from its members a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and such other officers as it may deem necessary. In the event of a vacancy in 1 of the officers, a replacement shall be elected at the next Board meeting or a meeting called for that purpose.

(b) The Association shall hire an Executive Director to work in collaboration with the Department of Education. The Executive Director shall be an employee of the Department and receive compensation commensurate with the Department salary scale at the Education Associate level.

(c) There shall be a Secretary who is employed by the Department of Education, and who shall serve as staff for the Association and the Department of Education. The Secretary shall receive compensation commensurate with the Department salary scales and shall be evaluated according to Department policies and procedures. The Secretary of Education shall employ other such employees as provided in the budget.

(d) The Executive Director shall become a bona fide resident of the State within 6 months following his or her date of hire.

(a) The Association shall hold regularly scheduled meetings at least once a month and at such other times as the chairperson deems necessary or at the request of a majority of the Board members.

(b) The Board shall meet at such place within the state as it may from time to time determine. The place for each meeting shall be determined prior to giving notice of such meeting.

(c) Notice of all meetings of the Board shall be given in the manner prescribed by law.

(d) Board meetings and hearings shall be open to the public in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 100, Title 29 of this Code.

(e) Minutes of all meetings shall be recorded and copies shall be maintained by the Association at the offices of the Department of Education. At any hearing in which evidence is presented, a record from which a verbatim transcript can be prepared shall be made and the expense of preparing any transcript shall be incurred by the person requesting the transcript.

(f) Board decisions in cases involving requests for waivers will be released in writing within 20 days from the date of hearing.

§309. Secretary; Powers and Duties.

The Association shall be a unit of the Department of Education. The Secretary of Education shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to the establishing of the Association as such a unit.

§310. Payment of expenses; deposits of receipt.

A special fund is hereby created and shall be known as the "Secondary Interscholastic Athletic Fund". The expenses of the Association shall be paid from this Special Fund. Any appropriations made to the Department by the General Assembly for the Association shall be allocated to this Fund. The Association shall be authorized to receive state appropriations, federal monies, membership dues, tournament revenues, fees, fines, officials dues, merchandising and licensing revenue, and interest. The Association is authorized to establish special fund accounts for the purposes of tracking revenue and these accounts shall be interest bearing and not subject to reversion. The Association is exempt from the state bid laws and Division of Accounting regulations. The Department of Education shall authorize and approve all Association expenditures.

§311. Annual Report.

The Association in consultation and cooperation with the Department of Education shall make an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before January 31 in each year.

§312. Appeals of Decisions by the Association.

The Association shall decide on all controversies involving the rules and regulations, including any waiver thereof, adopted pursuant to this chapter. Any party to such a controversy may appeal to the State Board by setting forth such grievance in a petition which shall be served upon the Executive Director of the Association by certified or registered mail within 30 days after receiving notice of the decision. The State Board shall provide by rules and regulations for adequate procedures for the hearing of any such appeal and shall decide the controversy. All such appeals shall be on the record and the State Board shall overturn the Association's decision only if it decides that the Association's decision was not supported by substantial evidence, or was arbitrary or capricious. The decision of the State Board shall be final and not subject of further appeal."

Section 4. No later than 30 days following the effective date of this Act, The Delaware Secondary School Athletic Association shall transfer to the special fund created by this Act all funds obtained by the Association in the exercise of the authority formally granted to it to implement the rules and regulations of the Department relating to interscholastic athletics.

Section 5. Any rules and regulations of the Department relating to interscholastic athletics which were adopted prior to the effective date of this Act shall remain in full force and effect until otherwise modified in accordance with Delaware law; provided, however, that if any rule or regulation heretofore adopted shall conflict with any of the provisions of this Act, the language contained in this Act shall prevail over that contained in such rule or regulation.

Section 6. This Act shall take effect upon enactment.

Approved July 08, 2002