Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

North Carolina legislators have ordered additional oversight of the chief nonprofit body that manages high school sports, finalizing legislation Friday that seeks to leave more rule-making in the hands of state education leaders.

In separate House and Senate votes, the General Assembly passed a bill that for months had focused solely on changes to state insurance laws. But the final measure negotiated by Republicans and unveiled Thursday tacked on more than a dozen pages addressing high school athletics that largely came from a separate bill that passed the Senate earlier this year.

A 2021 law that sought more rigorous government supervision of interscholastic sports among public schools led the State Board of Education to enter a memorandum of understanding with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which began in 1913.

That agreement laid out how the association, which serves more than 400 schools, would administer and enforce requirements for high school sports on behalf of the board. Republican lawmakers who say the association isn’t holding up its side of the bargain — harming students and their families — said the group needs to be reined in further.

The new language “increases accountability and transparency for a private organization tasked with administering our children’s athletic experiences,” Sen. Vicki Sawyer, an Iredell County Republican, said in a news release after Friday’s votes in both chambers. The bill was sent to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk for consideration.

The approved bill makes clear with the beginning of the next school year that standards on student participation, health and safety rules and student and school appeals must be set by the board, not the association. The association also would have to comply with public record disclosures similar to those that government agencies must follow.

And the elected state superintendent of public instruction — currently Republican Catherine Truitt — would enter into the memorandum of understanding, not the board, of which the governor’s appointees hold a majority.

During House floor debate early Friday shortly after midnight, bill opponents argued its supporters were seeking to severely weaken the association because of animosity toward NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker and for adverse student eligibility outcomes.

“I don’t think that’s a reason to threaten the (association), but I can certainly see it being nuked in the very near future,” said Rep. Amos Quick, a Guilford County Democrat.

In a news release Friday, the NCHSAA said it has acted in good faith with the State Board of Education since entering the agreement.

“This was a blindside tackle, and I am sorely disappointed in the actions of our state legislators,” Tucker said, adding that the bill would silence the voices of its member schools should it become law.

For years, NCHSAA critics complained about what they called the group’s oversized control over member schools, eligibility decisions and monetary penalties, even as the association has flush coffers.

 

Related Stories
‹
Cooper Approves Bill Formalizing NC Prep Sports Oversight
Written by BRYAN ANDERSON North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper approved a measure Tuesday for a new governing structure for high school sports. The new law allows the State Board of Education to create a formal agreement with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, the nonprofit body currently governing high school athletics. Under the compromise […]
2 Athletic Groups Sign On for NC Education Board Oversight
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Formal agreements reached between North Carolina’s education board and two nonprofit bodies that already run high school athletic competitions in the state will take effect next month. The initial memorandums of understanding entered into with the State Board of Education are in keeping with a 2021 state law that sought more rigorous […]
N. Carolina Officials: Prep Sports Governing Deal Reached
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Legislation that would lead to new controls upon the nonprofit body governing North Carolina high school sports has been agreed to in principle, state officials said Thursday. But there’s still uncertainty, as all the details haven’t been worked out. House and Senate GOP members who have scrutinized the North Carolina […]
Major NC High School Athletics Oversight Overhaul Proposed
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON The North Carolina High School Athletic Association would be replaced by a proposed state commission to oversee interscholastic public school sports in a measure unveiled Tuesday in a legislative committee. The bill, which received a hearing by a Senate education panel, comes after Republican lawmakers have publicly questioned association leaders […]
Veto Overridden: Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors Takes Effect in North Carolina
Written by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Transgender youth in North Carolina lost access Wednesday to gender-affirming medical treatments after the Republican-led General Assembly overrode the governor’s vetoes of that legislation and other bills touching on gender in sports and LGBTQ+ instruction in the classroom. GOP supermajorities in the House and Senate enacted — over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s opposition […]
North Carolina House Unlikely To Proceed With Education Overhaul, Speaker Says
Written by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM A sweeping education proposal that would take away power from North Carolina superintendents and the State Board of Education, placing it in the hands of public school parents, is unlikely to advance this session, the House speaker said Thursday. The 26-page bill, introduced last week but pulled from a committee agenda, would […]
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper Vetoes Another Charter School Oversight Bill
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed on Friday another bill related to North Carolina charter schools that would ease enrollment growth caps and allow county commissioners to give them property tax proceeds for capital projects. The measure, which received final legislative approval last week, also would allow charter schools to admit […]
North Carolina Republicans Introduce Public Education Overhaul in Dwindling Days of Session
Written by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM As the North Carolina legislative session winds down and budget negotiations plod along, House Republicans are pitching an eleventh-hour overhaul of public education laws that would take power away from superintendents and the State Board of Education while giving parents and lawmakers more control. Republican committee chairs pulled the proposal — introduced earlier […]
Transgender Sports Ban Nears Finish Line in North Carolina Legislature
Written by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM A bill banning transgender girls from playing on the middle school, high school and college sports teams that align with their gender identity is approaching the finish line in North Carolina as GOP-controlled state legislatures nationwide round out a record year of legislation targeting transgender residents. The North Carolina bill, which […]
Cooper Lets Changes to NC Schools for Deaf, Blind Become Law
Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Governance of the state’s public residential schools for the deaf and the blind is being shifted to new trustee boards controlled by General Assembly appointees in legislation that became law Monday because Gov. Roy Cooper neither signed nor vetoed it. The state constitution gave the Democratic governor until Sunday night to act […]
›