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It may be harder for high school student athletes to transfer between schools if the House of Delegates gets its way.
House Bill 4425 repeals a bill the House passed just three years ago to allow students to transfer schools without losing eligibility to play sports.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Del. Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, echoed several other lawmakers in concluding that the legislature should not have involved itself in the administration of school athletics.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a privilege in the state of West Virginia to get to participate in extracurricular activities,” he said. “We have chosen, good or bad, the (West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission) to administer those programs.”
Critics of the transfer rule say it led to drastic disparities between school sports teams.
“Some said, ‘Hey, let’s wait and see the data.’ As they said before, ‘Well, there’s been blowouts beforehand.’ Well, guess what? They didn’t just double, they tripled over that period of time,” Del. Dana Ferrell, R-Kanawha, said. “And since then, too, we’ve run into coach after coach, as the gentleman from Jefferson mentioned, has begged us to do something about it.”
The rule has also been criticized for eroding personal and academic ties between communities and teams, as students will play for a school that they have no association with.
Then-Gov. Jim Justice opted not to sign the bill and spent the remainder of his time in office asking lawmakers to reconsider their decision, calling it a “real, real mistake.”