238

238.0 RESIDENCE AND TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS=

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238.1 DEFINITIONS= = :

a. Change of Residence - A change of residence under this rule shall consist of the moving of all household properties to the new address and the parents and student actually living there; a second family residence shall not meet the requirements of = this standard.

b. District - All member schools, both public and nonpublic, shall establish defined geographical attendance districts for athletic eligibility purposes. The boundary for a nonpublic school attendance district shall be established by the school’s governing bo= ard and shall include an area not to exceed a twenty-five mile radius measured = from the school principal’s office. A current map showing the nonpublic school’s attendance distri= ct boundary shall be on file in the MSHSAA Office. Any subsequent change in the nonpu= blic school’s attendance boundary must be reported to the MSHSAA Office no later than February 1 preceding the school year = the change is to become effective since any change will be used in determining = the eligibility of transfer students. The Missouri School for the Blind and the Missouri School of the Deaf shall be exempt from establishing a defined geographic attendan= ce district for athletic eligibility purposes.

c. Parents - The te= rm parents shall mean the student’s:&nb= sp; 1) natural parents; 2) adoptive parents; 3) foster parents, if the student is placed in a foster home after becoming a ward of the court; 4) Custodial parent; if parents are divorced; 5) legal guardian but only in a = case where neither parent is living or legally competent; or 6) a family with wh= om a student has been living continuously for at least 365 days.

d. Residence - Residence = shall be defined as the place where the student’s parents have established their permanent home. This me= ans that the family regularly eats and sleeps in a specific place of lodging. It is a place where the student and his/her parents are habitually present and to which when departing, they in= tend to return.

e. Restricted Eligibili= ty - A transfer student who is granted restricted eligibility may participate = in designated sports only at the subvarsity level = of competition until the student has been in continuous attendance at the new school for 365 days from the date of enrollment.

238.2 RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS--A junior or senior high school student may be eligi= ble at the public or nonpublic school located in the district in which the student’s parents (as defined in By-Law 238.1-c above) reside. In the case of a public multiple s= chool district, a student may be eligible at the school designated for the studen= t to attend by the board of education. A student may also meet eligibility Residence Standards under the following provisions:

a. A student who is enroll= ed in a special learning center or magnet school may be eligible to represent the public school serving the district or attendance area of the parents’ residency in any sport not sponsored by the school he/she attends.

b. The residence standards= shall be waived 365 days from the date a student enrolls in a member school provi= ded enrollment in that member school has been continuous.

238.3 TRANSFER OF ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS--The following standards are for t= he purpose of assuring fairness to all students.

a. Students who transfer schools are ineligible for 365 days unless their cases meet the standards u= nder the EXCEPTIONS THAT FOLLOW:

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 1. CORRESPONDING CHANGE OF RESIDENCE OF PARENTS--If there is a corresponding change of residence of parents, from the attendance district of the school where a student has been enrolled to the new district, the student may be eligible as soon as certified in accord with By-Law 234. For the purpose o= f this provision, if the districts served by the two schools overlap, the term “new district” shall mean a district in which the original residence was not located. The purpose of this section shall be to avoid any loss of eligibility when pare= nts transfer residence to a new district for other than athletic reasons. Note: If a student from a broken home mo= ves from the residence of one parent to that of the other parent and transfers schools, eligibility must be considered under the Hardship Transfer Standar= d.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (a) This change of residence must= be simultaneous with the transfer of enrollment except when for educational reasons and awaiting occupancy of a new residence, a request is made to the MSHSAA Offi= ce to permit the student to enroll at a new school at the beginning of a new y= ear or semester and to become eligible as of the date the family actually trans= fers residence, such request shall be granted.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (b) If parents transfer to a new district, the student, to retain eligibility without establishing a 365 days period of attendance, must transfer his/her enrollment simultaneously with = the transfer of residence of parents, or no later than the beginning of the next school year.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2. TRANSFER AT PROMOTION--A student may be eligible immediately at the schoo= l of his/her choice upon first entering when:

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (a) The student is promoted from = the sixth grade to the seventh grade.

&nb= sp; (b) The student is promoted from the eighth grade to the ninth grade, provided = the student is eligible in all other respects.=

= (c) The student completes the highest grade in an elementary school that is not a p= art of a system supporting a high school (K-8), provided the student is eligibl= e in all other respects.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 3. TRANSFER FROM A NONMEMBER SCHOOL--A student is eligible upon his/her first transfer from a nonmember school to an MSHSAA member school where he/she meets the Residence Standards contained in By-Law 238.2 provided the transfer does not involve undue influence and is not for athletic reasons. Editor’s Note<= i>: A nonmember school is defined as o= ne which is not a member of the MSHSAA or, if it is located in another state, = is not a member of that state’s high school activities association.=

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 4. TRANSFER FROM UNACCREDITED PUBLIC SCHOOL--A student may be eligible upon his or her first transfer from an unaccredited public school to an accredited public school where the student’s tuition is required by state law to be paid by the home district provided the transfer does not involve undue influence and is= not for athletic reasons. Likewis= e, a student may be eligible upon his/her first transfer back to his/her home sc= hool if the school regains accreditation provided:

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (a) the student transfers within 365 days of accreditation being regained and<= /o:p>

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (b) the transfer does not involve undue influence and is not for athletic reasons.<= o:p>

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 5. SPECIAL TRANSFERS= --

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (a) Any transfer within any school system ordered by the board of education or governing body of a nonpublic school system, that is not for athletic reasons,= shall be considered as meeting the standards of transfer of residence. An assignment by the Commissioner = of Education in accord with provisions contained in RSMo<= /span> 167.121 shall meet this requirement.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (b) In case of reorganization, consolidation, or annexation of school districts, a student may be consider= ed eligible at the designated school of the enlarged district immediately.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (c) If a school is discontinued or closed to any group of students for reasons other than (b) above, its stude= nts may be eligible immediately in the school of their choice provided the standards of residence above are met.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 6. BOARDING SCHOOLS-= -A student who transfers for the first time to a boarding school*, provided the school is not a specialized athletic/academy boarding school, and lives in = the dormitory of the school may be eligible as soon as certified in accord with By-Law 234. Likewise, a stude= nt who has been attending a boarding school, provided it is not a specialized athletic/academy boarding school, and living in its dormitory under this provision may be eligible upon the student’s first transfer to a scho= ol at which he/she meets the residence standards contained under By-Law 238.2 provided the transfer does not involve undue influence and is not for athle= tic reasons. *For purposes of = this standard, a boarding school is defined as a school which provides a residen= tial community setting for students in which a full range of boarding services a= re provided (dormitory counselors, 24 hours a day supervision, a social progra= m, 3 meals a day, etc).

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 7. TRANSFER FROM APP= ROVED FOREIGN EXCHANGE PROGRAM -- A student who transfers for the first time from= a foreign exchange program that is listed on the Advisory List of Internation= al Educational Travel and Exchange Programs published by the Council on Standa= rds for International Educational Travel shall have unrestricted eligibility un= der the following conditions.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (a) The transfer shall occur at t= he semester.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (b) The student shall return to t= he previous high school attended prior to participation in the exchange progra= m

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (c) The student must meet the res= idence requirement in By-Law 238.2-d.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (d) The student shall meet all essential eligibility requirements.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; (e) The transfer shall not be a r= esult of undue influence or for athletic reasons.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 8. HARDSHIP--The Boa= rd of Directors may grant eligibility to a transfer student who does not meet the Transfer Standards when sufficient evidence is provided to show that it was necessary for the student to transfer because of unforeseen, unavoidable, o= r unusual circumstances; including, but not limited to, broken home conditions, death= of parents or guardian, and abandonment and provided the transfer was not for athletic reasons and there was no undue influence. Hardship requests for studen= ts in the seventh and eighth grades will be granted if the Principals of both the sending and receiving schools approve the request and indicate that they do= not believe that the transfer was made for athletic reasons or due to undue influence. = A student who is granted eligibility under this provision shall be eligible upon notification by the Executive Director.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 9. WAIVER--Even thou= gh a student transfers schools under circumstances which do not meet the terms of the Transfer of Enrollment Standards, he/she still may be granted eligibili= ty to participate in interscholastic athletics as hereinafter restricted if the student qualifies under the following terms and conditions: A student whose name has been incl= uded on a school eligibility roster at any level (varsity, junior varsity, freshman, junior high, etc.) for a given sport during the 12 calendar months preceding the date of such transfer can be eligible only for sub-varsity competition in that sport. A student may have unrestric= ted eligibility in all other sports in which his/her name has not appeared on a school eligibility roster (at any level).&= nbsp; Eligibility can be granted provided the athletic eligibility is appr= oved by the principals of both the sending and receiving schools and the Board of Directors and further provided there is no athletic purpose involved in the transfer (approval must be granted on the special MSHSAA form provided). The student shall be ineligible fo= r all sports for 365 days from the date of transfer in the event that either or b= oth principals or the Board of Directors decline to approve athletic eligibility.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Editor’s Note: A student transferring under the Waiver in grades 7-8 shall have restricted eligibili= ty from the highest team in the junior high/middle school i.e. “A” Team restricted to “B” Team.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; b. General Regula= tions Applying to All Transfer Students:

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 1. ELIGIBLE AT TIME = OF TRANSFER--A transfer student must be eligible in all respects at the school from which he or she is transferring to be eligible at the school to which = he or she is transferring.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 2. TRANSFER FORM--A transfer of eligibility form provided by MSHSAA shall be expedited for any transfer student (one who was not enrolled in the school district or system= the previous year) before a student may be considered eligible without establis= hing a 365 days period of attendance from the date of enrollment. The student shall not be permitted= to compete until the principal receives the information provided on this form = from the school from which he or she transferred, verifying that the student mee= ts the standards of eligibility to compete.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 3. FIFTH DAY OF ENROLLMENT--No transfer student can become eligible until the fifth day of enrollment. EXCEPTION:= If an interscholastic contest is p= layed either before the formal opening of school or before the fifth day of the f= all semester, a transfer student who is eligible in all other respects may be eligible to participate under this provision provided the student is proper= ly enrolled in the school.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; 4. TRANSFER AFTER ST= ART OF STATE TOURNAMENT SERIES--A student who participates in an MSHSAA district or state tournament contest shall not be eligible during the state tournament series in the same sport in the same season at a second school, even if the student completes an otherwise legal transfer to the second school.

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