- Jun 19, 2011
- 311
- 361
Its the same as a high school football coach saying its illegal to play in a church basketball league, legally they can't tell you what you can do outside of a "school" related function. Now as for "rec" that isn't a public school activity so they are allowed to require different rules. Like an all-star coach can "require" different things than a "high school" coach can, does that make sense? I agree its done all the time on every level, all I'm saying is that "legally" a high school can't tell you what activities you can or can't be involved with outside of school, they can HIGHLY encourage or discourage, does that clarify? They can say it all day long, but it won't hold up in court.
As a school administrator and someone who has taken several courses on school lawa I disagree. Public schools and their associations do have some rights with respect to behavior that does not occur on school grounds - especially if they can prove that it has an impact on the school related activity. I would guess that each person who competes as a part of MHSAA has to sign a contract including a code of conduct in which the athlete agrees to abide by the regulations. An athlete might have grounds in court if they refuse to sign the contract/code of conduct... That is also why it is possible for athletes to be suspended from teams or other school activities if they are found to engage in underage drinking or other prohibited behavior even if it occurs outside of school time.