High school student-athletes are inspiring – they really are when you think about it. At a time in their lives when they might otherwise choose to spend as much of their spare time doing any number of things, they make the choice to challenge their bodies, minds, and spirit by competing for their high schools. This decision to do something extra while they're in high school can help them create a habit that they will benefit from for years or decades after they graduate. That's why if your high school student-athletes eligibility is threatened, you need to contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help. Our experienced attorneys understand the student-athlete eligibility requirements in Alaska and can help your student-athlete continue to compete. Call us at 888.535.3686, or use our contact form to schedule a time when we can learn more about your student-athletes concerns.
High school athletics in Alaska are governed by the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA), which publishes a comprehensive handbook covering its constitution, bylaws, and policies affecting all aspects of high school sports in Alaska. At over 200 pages, however, it can be a challenge to find the information you might be looking for about your student-athlete's particular situation. That's why the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has created this summary of some of the main eligibility topics that can affect high school student-athletes in Alaska. If, after reading it, you have questions about your student's situation, contact us to discuss it and learn how we can help.
As many of us are aware, the years spent in high school can pass by quickly. Losing even a few weeks of eligibility can have a damaging effect on a student-athlete's morale, as well as their position on their team. And with some sports seasons beginning in late July in Alaska, the time students have to remedy eligibility issues created during the second semester of the previous school year is shorter than in other states. That's why preventing eligibility issues in the first place is the best way to deal with them, but where that's not possible, the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
Student-athletes in Alaska are age-eligible to compete in high school sports (assuming they meet all other eligibility requirements) until they turn 19; if they turn 19 on or before August 1, they're not eligible to compete during the next school year. If they turn 19 after August 1, they will be.
Student-athletes have a maximum of 4 seasons of eligibility in any one sport if enrolled in a four-year high school program; students enrolled in a three-year program have three seasons of eligibility per sport. In addition, student-athletes have 8 consecutive semesters of eligibility, starting with the first semester of 9th grade.
Limited waivers of the age-limit and semester-limit eligibility rules may be granted, particularly in cases where the student-athlete is a Special Education student who will remain in high school after their 19th birthday.
In addition, waivers of the age limit, semester limit, and other eligibility rules may be granted by the ASAA Executive Director “for reasons of hardship or emergency” or where the waiver “is required by Federal or State law.” Waiver requests must be presented to the student-athlete's “officially designated administrator,” who is then required to file a written request to the ASAA Executive Director.
Waiver requests should be as complete as possible so that they can be reviewed and acted on promptly. That means all information supporting the request should be included with the initial waiver request to avoid having it denied for lack of information or having it delayed while additional information is collected and submitted to the ASAA.
“Hardship” is defined by the ASAA as “an unforeseeable, unavoidable and uncorrectable act, condition or event which causes the imposition of severe and non-athletic burden upon the student and his/her family.” The hardship cannot have been caused by “knowing conduct by the student or his or her parents or guardians.” There are a number of factors that the ASAA Executive Director will consider when evaluating whether a hardship waiver request will be granted that go beyond the situation that created the hardship for the student-athlete. These include whether granting the waiver request will be fair to other student-athletes or will appear unfair to other student-athletes and whether “someone else will be denied a place” if the waiver request is granted.
If the waiver request is denied, it may be possible to appeal it. Appeals are made by the school to the ASAA Board of Directors. Their decision may be appealed to the Alaska Superior Court.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has years of experience helping student-athletes seek and secure eligibility waivers. Even though the waiver request must be submitted by the school, there is a lot of information that needs to be collected and presented in a compelling way if the request is to have the best chance of being granted. We understand how to gather that information, organize it, and summarize it in a way that busy school administrators can then use to submit a strong waiver request on your student-athlete's behalf.
Academic Eligibility Waiver Requests and Appeals
The ASAA requires student-athletes to be enrolled in courses that will provide them with at least “2.5 units of semester credit” (or the equivalent), except that full-time seniors “on track to graduate” can be enrolled in 2 units of semester credit.
Student-athletes must keep their grades up. In particular, they have to keep a 2.0 GPA during the semester; if they drop below 2.0, they will be ineligible until they raise their GPA to that level. Each school may have its own way of tracking student GPAs during the course of a semester, so the minimum time period for a student to be ineligible due to dropping below a 2.0 will depend on how often the school measures student GPAs during the school year.
If a student-athlete fails to earn at least 2.5 semester units of credit at the end of a semester (2.0 semester units for second-semester seniors on track to graduate) or if their overall GPA drops below 2.0 for the previous semester, they won't be eligible to compete during the next semester. Summer school and distance-learning courses can be used to remedy deficient credits and grades.
It's important to keep close track of your student-athlete's academic progress during the year. The periodic GPA checks can mean a sudden loss of eligibility right in the middle of a season, which can be devastating and embarrassing to your student-athlete. Many schools now have “parent portals” that allow you to keep tabs on how your student is doing, and taking advantage of these on a regular basis can help stop problems before they affect eligibility.
In some cases, you may need to discuss your student-athlete's progress with one or more of their teachers to see if there are things you and your student can be doing to help the situation. Sometimes, the problem is with the teacher, particularly in situations where it appears your student-athlete is being singled out for unfair treatment. While unusual, it happens; the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team sees it regularly, and we understand how to approach school administrators to deal with and hopefully resolve these sorts of difficult situations in a constructive way.
Finally, as with other eligibility requirements, hardship waivers of the academic eligibility requirements may be available. If your student-athlete's academic progress has been adversely affected by a family or personal hardship, we can help you gather the information needed to support a waiver request and can also present that information in a compelling way, saving school officials a substantial amount of effort and making sure the waiver request is strong and persuasive.
School Disciplinary Defense
Student-athletes spend considerably more time in the classroom as students than they do on the field as athletes. As a result, they're more likely to find themselves ineligible due to school disciplinary actions than for any misconduct that may happen while they're competing.
Every school has its own handbook or code of conduct that describes what's expected of students, what's prohibited, and, in most cases, what the procedures are for resolving misconduct allegations. Schools also have a wide range of disciplinary “consequences” at their disposal, ranging from verbal warnings to detention to suspension or expulsion. One tool that many schools use is to deprive students found to have committed misconduct from participating in extracurricular activities, including, of course, sports.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has years of experience representing hundreds of students across the country who are facing serious disciplinary proceedings at school. We understand how school disciplinary procedures work, and we also know from experience that busy school administrators don't always fully investigate misconduct claims before taking action against students. We can help by conducting our own investigation, in many cases learning “the rest of the story,” and will represent your student in school disciplinary proceedings, making sure their rights are respected every step of the way.
In some cases, our experience allows us to propose alternative forms of discipline that allow student-athletes to continue to compete while still respecting the school's need to maintain order and discipline students. If your student-athlete is facing a serious disciplinary charge, call us. We can help you navigate this upsetting and unfamiliar process.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
Student-athletes ejected from a contest on sportsmanship grounds must sit out the remainder of that contest and “shall serve a one-game suspension.” A second ejection during the same sports season will result in a two-game suspension, and the student-athlete must complete an online sportsmanship course before being allowed to return to competition. If a third suspension happens during the same sports season, the student-athlete is ineligible for the remainder of the season.
Student-athletes who “physically attack” an official or coach will “lose all eligibility for one calendar year from the date of the attack.”
Sportsmanship penalties may be appealed to the ASAA Appeals Board. While the Appeals Board won't reconsider judgment calls made by officials, in cases where there is video evidence that an official misidentified the student-athlete who was ejected, it may be possible to have the ineligibility vacated.
Appeals in these situations need to be submitted quickly after the event so that the Appeals Board has time to act before the suspension period ends. Unlike waiver requests, appeals of ejection penalties can be submitted either by the student-athlete or by the school. In cases where it appears an appeal may be effective, the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you quickly gather the information you need to support an appeal and present it in a convincing and compelling way.
Eligibility of Transfer Students
A student-athlete establishes their “residency” at a school by enrolling in the school and attending for 15 school days, or by participating in an interscholastic activity at that school (some of which begin before the school opens in the summer). Students who begin their first year of high school at a school, whether it's 9th grade for a four-year high school, or 10th grade for a three-year high school, establish their “residency” at that school.
If the student-athlete's family makes a “bona fide change of residence” from one school's “attendance area” to the attendance area of another school, the student-athlete may transfer to a high school in the new attendance area and will be eligible immediately (or “as soon as properly certified”).
If, on the other hand, the student-athlete transfers to a new school without there being a family change of residence, the student will be required to wait one full calendar year before being eligible to compete in team sports at the varsity level. Students competing in individual sports (defined as Cross Country Running, Nordic Ski, Swim & Dive, Tennis, Track & Field, and Wrestling) will be allowed to compete at the varsity level during the regular season, but will not be eligible for “State Qualifying and State Championship interscholastic competition for one calendar year.”
There are some exceptions. Student-athletes whose parents divorce or legally separate may choose to live with one parent and will be eligible at the school in that parent's attendance zone. If they later move to live with the other parent in a different attendance zone, they will face the one-year transfer penalty. Emancipated students or students who marry and transfer schools, as a result, may also be immediately eligible to compete at their new school.
The ASAA transfer rules may be waived in hardship situations by submitting a Transfer Rule Waiver Request form to the ASAA.
Even in situations where immediate eligibility is allowed after a school transfer, student-athletes are only allowed to represent “one member school during a respective sport season.”
As you can see, the ASAA's transfer rules can be complicated. The main thing to take away from them is that it's important to plan ahead for any situation that may result in a student-athlete transferring schools. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you and your student-athlete make sure that any move or school transfer doesn't suddenly upset your student-athlete's ability to compete. Where a hardship waiver may apply, we can identify and gather the information to support it and can work with your student-athlete's school to prepare and submit a compelling waiver request to the ASAA.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Keep Your Student-Athlete Competing
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has helped dedicated student-athletes stay eligible to compete in the sports that they love at high schools all across the US. Our experienced attorneys understand the ASAA's eligibility rules and waiver and appeal policies, and where your student-athlete is facing a school disciplinary situation, we can help you defend your student and make sure the school respects their rights.
If your student-athlete's eligibility to compete is threatened, call us at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to set up a confidential consultation. We are here to listen and to help!
