Page 98 - 2022-23 By-Laws

Rule 17 - Investigations ... Waivers

activity and believes the student is not a safe. The family doesn’t want to move
but does want the student to transfer to another, safer School. What’s the level
of athletic eligibility which will result from this transfer?
A. Safety issues at a Sending School may constitute a Hardship Condition (rule
17-8.3) and a transfer because of such safety concerns may meet the General
Waiver Rule criteria (rule 17-8.1) and permit full eligibility. In cases where the
family believes there is an unsafe school environment at the Sending School,
the student must show the existence of such problem, must show the problem
directly impacted the student and must show that remaining on that School’s
campus would be dangerous for the student. The preferable proof would
include school reports of incidents involving the student, evidence that the
student requested the school to provide assistance in dealing with the problem
and proof that the problem persisted. Proof of rumors of potentially dangerous
conditions will probably not support a student’s request for a Student Eligibility
General Waiver.
Q. 17-11 A student has been bullied by another student while enrolled at a school and
transfers to a neighboring school to get away from the student bully. The student
seeks full eligibility under the General Waiver Rule, 17-8.1. Does a bullying
situation qualify as a hardship condition?
A. Bullying may qualify as a hardship condition if there has been a verified history
of bullying and the bullying occurred at the Sending School, and not over social
media, not at the mall, not at McDonalds. Also, any bullying incidents must have
been reported to the Sending School at the time the bullying occurred, and
at a minimum, the student must have completely complied with the Sending
School’s Bullying Policy in order for the claimed bullying to be considered.
(rule 17-8.3)
Q. 17-12 Can bullying within or among athletes and teammates qualify as a hardship
condition?
A. A claim of bullying involving teammates generally does not qualify as a hardship
condition since a student who transfers as the result of an athletically-related
event is transferring for an athletic reason, even if the event is a teammate
bullying another teammate. Under rule 17-8.3, before a situation can be
considered a hardship condition, the situation must be non-athletic. Under
17-8.3(b), any evidence that the transfer was motivated by athletics often
eliminates the chance that the situation is a hardship condition.
Q. 17-13 A student attending the local public school now wants to attend the local private
school which has a religious component in its operations and curriculum.
And another student now wants to attend the local public school because he/
she is tired of having to attend morning religious services and having to take
religious classes. Will either student be eligible at the Varsity level following
the transfers under the General Waiver Rule?
A. Transfers based upon a student’s desire to attend and get an education at a
religious school, and transfers based upon a student’s desire to not to attend a
religious do not qualify as hardship transfers. The decision to transfer to another
Schools because the other school is religious and offers religious instructions,
just like the decision to transfer to another Schools because the other school is
not religious and does not require religious instruction, is rooted, not in some
hardship condition at the incumbent school, but rather upon a decision to attend
another school which better fits the student’s interests and wishes. This is a
choice, totally within the control of the student and the student’s family and
does not qualify as a hardship condition or as a basis for granting a waiver.
(rules 17-8.1, 17-8.3).
Q. 17-14 Following her rule 19-6.1 transfer, the student (girls basketball) claims that, since
the Receiving School doesn’t have a girls JV basketball team, which means
that she’ll be unable to play basketball there, then that situation constitutes a
hardship condition, Does the student qualify for a General Waiver under rule
17-8.1?
87