Author's note: following the publication of this piece, the Ohio High School Athletic Association voted to reverse their original decision and removed all charter and STEM school students from enrollment counts in district high schools.
Late in July, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) announced that it had parceled out newly sports-eligible students evenly and randomly to district high schools in the cities where they live. This action was taken as a result of a 2014 change in law that now allows non-district students in charter or STEM schools to participate in district-affiliated athletics (and certain other extracurricular activities). Instantly, all but one of the high schools in Columbus City Schools were “upsized” into a new athletics division—in some cases two or three steps upward—because of the technical increase in the schools’ enrollment. In other words, schools previously fielding sports teams in lower divisions (where the competition is less fierce) will now face tougher competition in the big leagues.
While stoicism reigned over the situation as it similarly unfolded in Toledo, the reaction in Columbus was swift and furious. One Columbus Dispatch sports writer called this action a “burden on districts that are already overburdened.” Then he added, “The onus of the new rules is falling on urban areas, as if they don’t have enough problems.” But keep in mind that the “burden” and “onus” only applies to coaches and the players on the field—not teachers and students in the classroom. Furthermore, the negative reaction misses some other important points.
1.) The benefits of athletics should be available to all students.
There is a strong body of research suggesting that organized sports are beneficial to young people both physically and mentally. While many students choose not to participate, shouldn’t all students have the opportunity to do so? I have it on good authority (chatty basketball referees in the YMCA locker room) that there are fantastic athletes who have to play in non-school leagues across Columbus because they go to charter schools without teams. Or even hoops.
To deny a young person the chance to even try out for a team simply because of the type of school she attends seems counter to the ethos of team sports and rooted in something far less lofty than the values of athletic competition. So long as big-time middle and high-school athletics are monopolized by districts, non-district students need a law like this one to level the playing field.
2.) The city schools are actually bigger now, and that’s not bad.
A similar situation occurred in 2013, when home-schooled and some private school[1] students were first allowed to participate in extracurriculars in their districts of residence, also by action of the General Assembly. There was some confusion at the time as to how such a change was to be implemented at the district level, but with a tiny influx of new athletes and no “upsizing” of divisions, the result was peaceful coexistence. The difference this time is the sheer number of newly eligible students. There are approximately 120,000 charter school students in the Buckeye State.[2]
Total student enrollment in a building is the determining factor for the division placement of high school sports teams in Ohio. While most of the students attending Toledo’s Rogers High School will never play sports, they all count toward total student enrollment because they could decide to participate (or at least try out) at any time. That same potential exists now for charter and STEM school students, hence OHSAA’s decision to include all of them in district high school enrollment counts. Still, the manner in which that inclusion was carried out took a number of athletic directors aback. The Toledo Blade article linked above provides a good account of the process, but it should be noted that OHSAA did not impose the even, random distribution of students across schools without consulting with the largest districts to be affected. Said Rogers’s Athletic Director Harold Howell, “They had to figure out how to count those kids. It’s just a matter of how you do it.” Quite so.
Howell’s other concern, however, is more important to address going forward. Those students attending Rogers who might participate are fully aware of what is available to them—through classmates, pep rallies, games, and informational meetings held by coaches. If the state wants to make access meaningful for the students and justify the numbers of newly eligible students for which district high schools must account, it is vital that charter and STEM school students have just as much knowledge about what is available to them (via their school leaders or perhaps some revised OHSAA rules).
This hullabaloo over athletic divisions is an adult problem. I have faith that properly motivated leaders will quickly figure out that this charter lark is a good thing for student athletes and for themselves, and will act accordingly.
Students can win at sports and academics simultaneously.
With these changes, it is no longer necessary for any Ohio student to attend their geographically assigned school for access to sports. This is an important consideration particularly for families in urban communities, where academic choice is fairly extensive (both within the district and through charters or STEM schools). Interestingly, athletics is sometimes a key factor—along with academic quality—in school selection, as researchers in New Orleans discovered.
All the aspects that make athletics valuable to widening a young person’s high school experience can be made available at the same time as the highest-quality academics. This well-rounded experience may be taken for granted in some suburban districts or private schools, but let us not forget that LeBron needed one of the best private schools in Akron to become King James, both in basketball and in life. The same options should be available for all young people, even if they come from two different sources.
Choosing between quality academics and high-caliber athletics—often diametrically opposed in Ohio’s cities—is no longer necessary. This new normal should be embraced, facilitated, and celebrated.
[1] Specifically, private-school students were eligible only for sports their own schools did not offer, thus limiting the number of such students who were truly eligible to play.
[2] The same eligibility limitation as previously enacted was included in the 2014 charter/STEM legislative language, but far fewer charter and STEM schools have sports teams, and thus a large majority of them are eligible this time around.
