CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Today, the State Senate Education Committee advanced a bill that would allow high school students to retain their athletic eligibility if they were to transfer schools.
Senate Bill 262 would force the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission to modify its rule that requires students that transfer schools to sit out one year before participating in athletics and allow students to join an athletic team upon transfer.
The bills lead sponsor Ryan Weld (R-Brooke), spoke in front of the Senate Education Committee this morning and said that he has had multiple people across the state reach out and express their frustration with the current rule. “It became very apparent after the last session that the issue that this is,” Weld said.
Weld says he doesn’t understand the one-year “settling in” period as transfer students from out-of-state or non-WVSSAC affiliated schools do not have to sit out from athletics for a year. “If you move from California and you come to a West Virginia school, you don’t have to sit out a year,” Weld explained.
Weld said that he believes this rule is discriminatory and that the passage of this bill would be a help to both students and parents.
The rule modification achieves the intent to not require a student to undergo one year of athletic ineligibility if the student transfers secondary schools during or after the student’s ninth-grade year.
If the bill passes, it would require the WVSSAC to modify the rule by the 2023-2024 school year.
The bill was advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a voice vote with the recommendation that it be reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it do pass.