Written by Shaun Chornobroff for the SC Daily Gazette
Columbia All South Carolina high school athletes who transfer schools can be eligible to play for their new team right away starting the following academic year.
The state’s 2023 voucher law contains a single sentence that hasn’t received much attention—that is, until senators began discussing a bill this session that would restore the K–12 private tuition scholarships that the state Supreme Court struck down. This sentence has the potential to revolutionize the rules governing middle and high school athletics.
Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto raised concerns about the potential exploitation of a carve-out rule for student athletes receiving state aid during a subcommittee meeting on the bill. He was told that the law already included that exclusion. State law already exists.
It is, too. However, the crisis hasn’t arisen because it’s so new and went so unreported. Not that South Carolina High School League commissioner Jerome Singleton is aware of, anyway.
According to the section of the 2023 state law that was not impacted by the high court’s decision, scholarship recipients who transfer from one public school to another are exempt from the High School League’s regulations, which mandate that the majority of student athletes sit out for a calendar year following their transfer.
The voucher law will probably compel the league to change its transfer policies for all athletes, Singleton told the SC Daily Gazette, even though it expressly refers to kids who utilize state aid to move to another public school in a different district, which is still an acceptable use of the scholarship.
The head of the independent, dues-paying organization that establishes and monitors the competition rules for participating middle and high schools, both public and private, stated that there would be no other choice if we were to be consistent.
According to Singleton, between 3,500 and 4,000 student athletes from league institutions transfer each year.
In order to make the rules uniform for all, the High School League Legislative Assembly, which is composed of representatives from schools throughout the state, could amend its bylaws in March. If not, Singleton claims that there will be issues because there will be basically two sets of rules for students who transfer.
He questioned, “What about those that don’t transfer under this?”
The senators’ plan, which was adopted on Thursday, would restrict the transfers. The one-year wait would only apply to students who use state scholarships once, enabling them to play for their new school right once rather than constantly switching institutions.
Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree’s amendment would allow the league to approve any subsequent transactions following the one-time, penalty-free transfer.
Shane Massey, the Senate majority leader, made a failed attempt on Wednesday to simply eliminate the voucher program exception for students.
According to the Edgefield Republican, this would treat scholarship recipients differently than other students, which is wrong.
Sen. Russell Ott, a Democrat from St. Matthews, concurred, stating that it adds to the already contentious rules.
The freshman senator stated, “We are once more establishing a subset of athletes and students who can access this and go and play immediately.”
Massey said that he felt conflicted about forcing scholarship program participants to sit out, but he was also concerned that recruiters would take advantage of the exemption to assemble a winning team, persuading athletes to transfer only for athletic reasons and doing so with state assistance.
The scholarship amount would be 90% of the average amount that the state provides to districts per student under the bill that was adopted on Thursday. That amounts to almost $7,700 per student for up to 10,000 kids in the upcoming school year. The quota is set at 15,000 pupils for next year.
Tuition, tutoring, textbooks, and the cost school districts may impose to cover unpaid local property taxes are all considered allowable fees for public school transfers.
“They receive a scholarship and simply spend $500 on tutoring if dishonest coaches or individuals find a gap that could allow them to recruit people in,” Massey said. This might be used for hiring.
The most outspoken advocate of the immediate eligibility clause was Senator Chip Campsen. For a child in a poor school, he referred to the measure as a “white knight.” Students who could benefit from a scholarship may not apply since they can’t play sports at their new school right away, especially if they want to play sports in college, he added.
I believe that many students would find this to be a barrier. The Republican from the Isle of Palms stated, “It would be for me,” adding that he participated in a lot of sports in both high school and college.
Although he doesn’t doubt that the regulation would be abused, Campsen advised lawmakers not to presume that it will be applied widely.
He stated, “We’re putting these kids in schools that don’t suit them.” We can’t assume that they choose to go the better school because they want to play football with us and because they’re a fantastic quarterback.
The two Republicans concurred that they don’t want to foster a culture in which athletes only transfer schools for athletics in order to receive the scholarship. They don’t want high school athletics to experience what happened in college sports when the NCAA relaxed its previously stringent transfer regulations and permitted student-athletes to market their names, likenesses, and images in order to benefit from their achievements.
According to Campsen, they all but destroyed college football.
The primary proponent of the law, Hembree, proposed his one-time exemption rule as a compromise.
The Little River Republican pointed out that the High School League already permits exceptions to its own regulation, thus this is an attempt to stop them from trying to game the system back and forth.
A student being placed in foster care or relocating to a home in a different school zone are two of the more than a dozen acceptable exceptions.
As of right now, Hembree described it as a patchwork quilt.
Sen. Ronnie Sabb of Greeleyville, one of the Democrats in the chamber who finally voted against the bill, remarked, “It’s not a pretty quilt.”
Regardless of the voucher bill, other legislative measures would compel the High School League, which regularly enrages lawmakers, to modify its transfer system.
Among them is a plan that Hembree supported that would allow student-athletes to transfer schools during two five-day openings in January and August without facing consequences. Any other time a student transfers, they will be disqualified from school sports for ninety days.
The transfer penalty is one of the topics that House Education Chairwoman Shannon Erickson told the SC Daily Gazette her committee is likely to address.
The Beaufort Republican stated, “We’re trying to foster enrollment where children need to learn best.” That we won’t assist them with their sports at the same time sounds contradictory.