Iowa Bill Would Require Public Schools To Let Private School Students Join Teams

School sports in Iowa could get interesting.

I went to a small, not-at-all-fancy public school back in the Stone Ages and it's an experience. Some of my besties went to very nice private schools in their hometowns. Now, a bill in Iowa is seeking to merge the two worlds together.

Under the bill, which passed in the Iowa House this week, private school students would be allowed to participate in sports offered by public schools.

These days, a lot of public school districts already have agreements in place with private schools. But under the bill, public school districts would have to allow the private school kids to join teams/participate in sports if they live within the public school district's boundaries (or in that of a contiguous district) and if their private school has not offered whatever sport they want to play for at least 2 years.

The public schools could not charge private school students a fee higher than what their own students already pay.

Rep. Henry Stone (R, Forest City), the bill's floor manager, said about it:

The impetus of this bill is not to show favoritism or to elevate nonpublic schools. It’s being brought about because school districts started severing longstanding athletic agreements with nonpublic schools once nonpublic schools entered their accreditation process or after we passed ESAs.

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Heather Matson (D, Ankeny) expressed concern that the bill might stretch the staff and space of public schools too thin if private school kids begin joining their programs.

Now that the bill has passed in the Iowa House, it will head on to the Iowa Senate for consideration.