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2015 Annual Questionnaire Results

The MSHSAA Board of Directors circulates the Annual Questionnaire each year to all member schools. This instrument is utilized to obtain a consensus from member schools on key issues which will aid the Board of Directors in determining changes that are desired by the majority of member schools. Listed below are the results of this year's Annual Questionnaire.

TOPIC 1: Ejections and MSHSAA Protest Procedure (Question 1)

1. Voted on by all member schools.

Would you support an amendment to By-Law 5.5.1, to clarify that ejections must be appealed at the contest site by using MSHSAA Board Policy for On-Site Protests of Athletic Contests and that the decision made at the contest site is final?

YES - 335 NO - 136

TOPIC 2: Amateur and Award Requirements (Questions 2-3)

2. Voted on by all member schools.

Should the maximum merchandise value limit be increased from $100 to $250?

YES - 418 NO - 53

3. Voted on by all member schools.

Should the merchandise limit be a TOTAL VALUE limit for multiple items received?

YES - 407 NO - 64

TOPIC 3: Bona Fide Student Definition and Academic Requirements (Questions 4-10)

4. Voted on by all high schools and combined schools.

Which statement below best reflects your stance on the required number of “seated, for credit courses” that a student should be required to take AT THE SCHOOL the student intends to represent in activities DURING A SEMESTER (as a part of meeting the 80% requirement)?

36 a. NO MINIMUM: There should not be a minimum number of classes the student must take for credit at the brick and mortar member school that the student wants to represent – the student should be able to be schooled entirely online, or through some combination of academic options that may all be held outside of the school building to reach the 80% academic requirement.

48 b. ONE UNIT OF CREDIT PER SEMESTER: In addition to meeting the 80% requirement, in order to be academically eligible to represent a member school during a given semester, the student should be required to be enrolled in and physically attending classes at that school that provide at least ONE unit of credit for the semester. (semester example: two classes worth .5 credits each, or one class worth a full credit)

38 c. ONE AND A HALF UNITS OF CREDIT PER SEMESTER: In addition to meeting the 80% requirement, in order to be academically eligible to represent a member school during a given semester, the student should be required to be enrolled in and physically attending classes at that school that provide at least ONE AND A HALF units of credit for the semester (semester example: three classes worth .5 credits each)

160 d. TWO UNITS OF CREDIT PER SEMESTER: In addition to meeting the 80% requirement, in order to be academically eligible to represent a member school during a given semester, the student should be required to be enrolled in and physically attending classes at that school that provide at least TWO units of credit for the semester (semester example: four classes worth .5 credits each)

149 e. ALL CLASSES: The full academic standard of 80% should be attained through classes taken in the brick and mortar school that the student wants to represent.

5. Voted on by all high schools and combined schools.

Which of the academic systems described below best represents your school’s academic structure?

302 a. Regular 7-hour day

57 b. Eight-block system with 4 blocks on alternating days (each block = .5 credit)

5 c. Four-block system where all classes meet each day and a student earns ONE credit per semester

1 d. Trimester system

8 e. Ten-Block system with 5 blocks on alternating days (each block = .5 credit)

26 f. Modified block (some blocks meet daily; some blocks meet on an alternating schedule)

32 g. Our academic system is not similar to any of the ones described.

6. Voted on by all high schools and combined schools.

Do you have any students taking college courses for which you DO NOT provide high school credit?

YES - 62 NO - 369

7. Voted on by all high schools and combined schools.

Do you have students taking ITV classes which are taught/filmed from a different high school for high school credit at your school?

YES - 84 NO - 347

8. Voted on by all high schools and combined schools.

Do you have students taking ITV classes which are taught/filmed from a college or university for high school credit at your school?

YES - 121 NO - 310

9. Voted on by all high schools and combined schools.

Would you support a greater amount of flexibility for member schools in regard to the number and type of classes that could be used toward academic eligibility for activities? Example: Online classes, correspondence courses, dual enrollment, dual credit, virtual school classes, etc. would all be allowable (above the seat time/credit minimum) under the following conditions:

Condition 1: All such courses are pre-approved by the school of enrollment for the granting of credit on the student’s transcript toward graduation prior to the first day of the member school’s applicable semester and prior to the course being started.

Condition 2: All such courses/credits must be completed by or before the close of the semester for the school of enrollment.

189 a. YES, I support the described flexibility for “non-seated” credits to be used toward academic eligibility for activities.

157 b. NO, I would not support what is proposed. I favor a more traditional schedule that requires a student to be a part of the school community for more of the day.

85 c. NO, I would not support what is proposed. I am concerned that this option will cause us to be pressured to accept and grant credit for courses that we may find questionable.

10. Voted on by all high schools and combined schools.

Which statement best represents your opinion regarding proctored exams when a “non-seated” online, correspondence, or virtual course is to be used for academic eligibility?

340 a. Exams which are taken during online, correspondence and/or virtual courses should be proctored by school personnel at the school site if they are to be used toward academic eligibility.

91 b. Exams which are taken during online, correspondence and/or virtual courses should not have to be proctored by school personnel at the member school for the course to be used toward academic eligibility.

TOPIC 4: Summer Contact Days (Questions 11-12)

11. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Which statement best represents your opinion on the number of contact days allowed in the summer?

229 a. The current number of summer contact days allowed (25) is appropriate and should not be altered.

170 b. The current number of summer contact days allowed (25) is too high and should be reduced.

9 c. The current number of summer contact days allowed (25) is too low and should be increased.

23 d. The number of summer contact days allowed should be a local school decision.

12. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

If a majority of member schools believe that the number of summer contact days should be reduced, which total would you support?

53 a. 23

197 b. 20

44 c. 18

137 d. I do not support a decrease in the number of summer contact days allowed.

TOPIC 5: District Tournament Seeding (Questions 13-14)

13. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Do you see a benefit in power rankings being developed for team sports so data could be used to assist in seeding each district tournament?

YES - 222 NO - 209

14. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

If a power ranking system is developed, the input of regular season results on the MSHSAA website should:

284 a. Be mandated to ensure the rankings are available for district seeding.

75 b. Be optional so data might be available to assist with district seeding.

72 c. Be recommended by each sport Advisory Committee and determined by the Board of Directors

TOPIC 6: College Tryouts and Evaluation Events (Questions 15-25)

15. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Should an individual student be allowed to go to an individual college for a private try-out for a college team?

272 a. Yes, at any time, with local school permission (both in season and out of season).

159 b. This should not be allowed during the school sport season, but should be allowed at the local school’s discretion outside of the school sport season.

16. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Has your school had an athlete of a team sport request to attend an Evaluation Event (multiple athletes/multiple colleges represented) DURING the school sport season for that sport?

YES - 99 NO - 332

17. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Has your school had an athlete of an individual sport request to attend an Evaluation Event (multiple athletes/multiple colleges represented) DURING the school sport season for that sport?

YES - 51 NO - 380

18. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Has your school had an athlete of a team sport request to attend an Evaluation Event (multiple athletes/multiple colleges represented) OUTSIDE OF the school sport season for that sport?

YES - 266 NO - 165

19. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Has your school had an athlete of an individual sport request to attend an Evaluation Event (multiple athletes/multiple colleges represented) OUTSIDE OF the school sport season for that sport?

YES - 171 NO - 260

20. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Based on your experience, are there similarities between a non-school competition event (defined in By-Law 3.13.2) and a college evaluation event (defined in By-Law 3.13.4) in the (team) sport of basketball?

266 YES, in basketball these events are similar

165 NO, in basketball these events are not similar

21. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Based on your experience, are there similarities between a non-school competition event (defined in By-Law 3.13.4) a college evaluation event (defined in By-Law 3.13.4) in the (team) sports of Baseball/Softball?

225 YES, in Baseball/Softball these events are similar

206 NO, in Baseball/Softball these events are not similar

22. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

176 YES, in Football these events are similar

255 NO, in Football these events are not similar

23. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Based on your experience, are there similarities between a non-school competition event (defined in By-Law 3.13.4) a college evaluation event (defined in By-Law 3.13.4) in the (team) sport of Soccer?

230 YES, in Soccer these events are similar

201 NO, in Soccer these events are not similar

24. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

244 YES, in Volleyball these events are similar

187 NO, in Volleyball these events are not similar

25. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

In your experience, who most often sponsors the Evaluation Events you have dealt with?

246 a. An individual college or university

119 b. An independent non-educational entity connected with a sport (i.e. a basketball organization)

25 c. An athletic apparel company (i.e. Adidas, Nike, etc.)

41 d. Other

TOPIC 7: Track and Field Events (Questions 26-28)

26. Voted on by all member schools.

Do you have any students that are confined to a wheelchair?

YES - 120 NO - 351

27. Voted on by all member schools.

Do you think you might have any students interested in the adaptive events of the wheelchair 100, 400 or shot put at your school?

YES - 51 NO - 420

28. Voted on by all member schools.

Do you plan on offering the javelin this track/field season?

YES - 77 NO - 394

TOPIC 8: Charter Schools Being Subject to the 1.35 Multiplier (Question 29)

29. Voted on by high schools and combined schools.

Is it appropriate for charter schools to be subject to the enrollment multiplier due to the ability of this category of schools to limit or cap student enrollment?

YES - 391 NO - 40

TOPIC 9: Junior High Basketball Game Limits (Question 30)

30. Voted on by member junior high schools and combined schools.

Would you support increasing the junior high basketball scheduling options for single games by four games?

YES - 116 NO - 161

TOPIC 10: Camp/Clinic/Group Sport Lessons During the School Sport Season (Question 31)

31. Voted on by all member schools.

Would you support allowing athletes to attend no more than one camp/clinic/group sport lesson during the school sport season, with school permission and with no loss of school time, without a school coach having to attend with the student? (Subsequent participation would require school coach attendance during the school sport season as is currently required.)

YES - 321 NO - 150

TOPIC 11: Affiliate Registered Schools (Questions 32-35)

32. Voted on by all member schools.

Do you support the category of “Affiliate Registered Schools” as an option within the Constitution?

YES - 381 NO - 90

33. Voted on by all member schools.

Do you have any concerns regarding the limited requirements for Affiliate Registered Schools?

YES - 158 NO - 313

34. Voted on by all member schools.

Do you believe that Affiliate Registered Schools should be required to follow additional by-laws?

YES - 238 NO - 233

35. Voted on by all member schools.

Specifically, do you believe that Affiliate Registered Schools should be required to adhere to the restriction on nonschool competition during the school sport season, for the same sport?

YES - 391 NO - 80