As the parent or guardian of an Oklahoma high school student-athlete, you know first-hand how important it is to your child to be able to compete in school with their friends and teammates. By dedicating themselves to something so difficult and time-consuming outside of their day-to-day academic activities, your student-athlete is developing lifelong habits of hard work and commitment that will follow them whether or not they go on to compete at the college or professional level.
This is why it's so important that your student-athlete remain eligible to compete in the sport – or, for some of them, sports – of their choice. As you probably know, the four years of high school can go by very quickly, and for a student-athlete to lose even a few weeks of eligibility can be an extremely difficult situation to have to deal with.
High school sports in Oklahoma are governed by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA), which has more than 450 schools in its current roster. The OSSAA also published numerous rules, regulations, and forms that relate to student-athlete eligibility and discipline. Wading through all of this information can be difficult when you have specific questions about student-athlete eligibility, which is why student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have put together this summary of some of the main eligibility questions that many student-athletes and their families are likely to face in Oklahoma.
Keeping track of these requirements and helping your student-athlete stay eligible to compete is one of the important ways that you, as a parent or guardian, can help them. With all that a busy student-athlete has going on – attending classes, keeping their grades up, staying in shape, practicing, and competing – they still depend on you for many things. Helping them make sure they continue to stay eligible is one of the best ways you can assist them to excel. And if you have questions about what the OSSAA requirements are, how they apply to your student-athlete's situation, or what you can do if your student-athlete's eligibility is threatened, Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team are available to help.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
Student-athletes who turn 19 before September 1 are no longer eligible to compete in high school athletics in Oklahoma. If a student-athlete turns 19 on or after September 1, they will still be eligible to compete for the entire school year.
Exceptions to this rule are “very limited,” according to the OSSAA. If a student-athlete had been “delayed from starting school” or was “held back from advancing from one grade level to the next” due to circumstances that were beyond the control of the student and their parents, then the OSSAA may grant a waiver or exception request. One factor that the OSSAA considers is whether the student's participation in the particular sport would present an “obvious danger to other participants.” In addition, exceptions won't be granted to students aged 20 or older, or for students who repeated a grade after the beginning of 9th grade (except where the failure was the result of the school failing to provide the student with appropriate special education classes, or because the student suffered a serious injury or illness, or where there were problems with a foreign-language student being able to transition to English).
Once student-athletes begin 7th grade, they are eligible to compete in school athletics in Oklahoma for that school year and for the five school years that follow after 7th grade. Those years are counted consecutively, meaning that in most cases, if a student-athlete leaves school for a year for any reason, that year still counts as one of their years of athletic eligibility.
It is possible in limited cases for an exception to be granted, where the student-athlete was unable to compete or to attend school because of circumstances that were out of their or their parent's control. Typical examples are serious injuries or an illness that prevented the student from “completing academic work necessary to advance to the next grade level.”
There are specific procedures that must be followed if you believe a request for a waiver of either the age-limit or year-limit rules may be appropriate for your student-athlete. Student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team can help you not only make sure you follow the proper application procedures, but also that you provide strong and effective support for your waiver request.
Academic Eligibility Requirements and Waiver Requests
There are two types of academic eligibility issues that can affect student-athletes in Oklahoma. The first happens at the beginning of a semester, when it is the student's progress during the previous semester that determines eligibility at the beginning of the next one. The second happens regularly during the course of the school semester, when the school monitors the student's progress in their current courses and takes action if they are not passing one or more classes.
Eligibility at the Start of a Semester
In Oklahoma, a student-athlete must have passed at least five of the subjects required for graduation during the previous semester in order to be eligible to compete in athletics at the start of a new semester. (The requirements differ slightly for students enrolled in schools that use “block schedules.”)
If the student-athlete fails to meet the five-subject passing requirement, then they are ineligible to compete during the first six weeks of the new semester. If they pass all of their subjects at the end of that six-week period, then they will be eligible from that point forward, provided they continue to pass their classes.
One summer school class may be used to help a student meet this requirement for a spring semester, provided the class is one that is required for graduation.
Eligibility During a Semester
Student-athletes are checked on a weekly basis, starting with week four of the semester. They must be passing all of their courses in order to continue to be eligible to compete. If they are not, they have a one-week probation period to bring their grades up, and after that, if they are still not passing all of their classes, they will be ineligible to compete for at least a week. Ineligibility can continue on a week-by-week basis until the student-athlete is passing all of their courses.
Because the ineligibility periods are relatively short, and the ability to regain eligibility is, for the most part, up to the student-athlete, the possibility to appeal academic ineligibility determinations is limited. One possibility occurs when a student-athlete has been declared ineligible because they are not passing one or more courses when the Christmas break arrives. In that case, if there are contests scheduled during the Christmas break that would cause the student to miss contests two weeks in a row (for example, the week of break and the first week back in January), then the student-athlete may request a waiver from the OSSAA.
Sometimes, grades are awarded to a student in a way that may seem unfair under the circumstances. Where the grading of a project or essay includes a subjective evaluation of the student's work, there may be opportunities to approach the teacher or the school with a request that the student's work be reevaluated. In these situations, it may be possible to change weekly or end-of-semester grades by working with the school (versus appealing to the OSSAA). Student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento has worked with high school students all across the US who have faced these kinds of issues, and he and the Lento Law Firm Team can help you decide whether that might be an effective way to address a situation where your student-athlete's grades are not meeting the OSSAA's requirements.
School Disciplinary Defense
Student-athletes spend a lot more time in class being students than they spend on the court or field being athletes. As a result, they are more likely to run into eligibility problems because of school discipline situations than they are with anything that happens in practice or during competition.
All high schools have student conduct codes that describe in detail the expectations that the school has for student behavior and how the school may respond when students are accused of misconduct. In the vast majority of cases, students who “get in trouble” at school won't have to worry about losing their athletic eligibility as a result. Verbal warnings from the teacher or a school administrator, loss of certain privileges, or detention are all typical responses to more minor forms of student misconduct.
But the OSSAA makes it clear that student-athletes who are not in school are not permitted to compete. So if your student-athlete is facing a possible suspension as a result of alleged misconduct, you need to act as quickly as possible to find out what the alleged misconduct was, how thoroughly it was investigated, whether there is “another side to the story,” and if there is a possibility that punishment less severe than suspension could serve the same purpose.
The problem that student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento has seen over and over again is that busy school administrators don't always conduct a thorough or fair investigation of misconduct allegations against students. As a result, many disciplinary decisions are based on an unfair and incomplete understanding of the facts. In addition, it's not unusual for some students to receive more severe punishments than other students based not on what they've done, but based on who they are.
This is where it can make a significant difference to have an experienced student-athlete attorney-advisor involved. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have helped students and student-athletes all over the country protect their rights in school disciplinary situations. Depending on the situation, they will conduct their own investigation of what happened, locate any witnesses or information that can help your student, challenge incomplete or inaccurate information being used by the school against your student, and make sure that the disciplinary process respects your student-athlete's rights under school rules and Oklahoma law. In many cases, where appropriate, their experience helps them suggest alternative forms of discipline that allow the student-athlete to remain eligible to compete while still respecting the school's need to maintain discipline on campus.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
Student-athletes who are ejected from a contest “because of a flagrant or unsportsmanlike conduct” are ineligible to compete for at least one additional contest until their principal reinstates them. If their conduct included “fighting, cursing or using foul language toward a game official,” the suspension is for at least two games. And any student-athlete who leaves the bench during an on-field fight or other serious incident will also be ejected from that contest and will be suspended for at least one game (if they stayed out of the confrontation) or two games (if they joined in).
Appeals in these situations are limited. Because the school principal is the one responsible for reinstating the student-athlete, generally speaking, the most effective way to address the situation is to file an appeal with the principal based on some form of evidence showing that the student-athlete was misidentified by the official, or that in bench-clearing situations that the student-athlete did not step onto the field or court. Usually, in these cases, the best evidence will be video, which may come from the school itself if it was recording the contest, or from spectators who were doing so with their mobile phones or personal video recorders.
Joseph D. Lento can help investigate, prepare, and submit the information needed to help a school principal determine that a student-athlete should not be suspended or that the student should be reinstated immediately. He and the Lento Law Firm Team have advised student-athletes all over the country facing similar situations, and they understand how to effectively investigate a situation and present helpful evidence to limit or reduce any sanctions imposed.
Transfer Issues and Exceptions
School transfer situations represent one of the most complicated areas of the OSSAA rules and regulations. As a result, if your family is considering moving to a new school district or if your student-athlete is talking about changing high schools, it pays to take a long and careful look at what the rules are before you make any changes. This is because under OSSAA rules, in many cases, a transferring student-athlete will be ineligible to compete at their new school for an entire year after making the transfer.
Exceptions exist, fortunately. A student whose family makes a “bona fide” move to a new home – one where they can document that they have effectively abandoned (completely moved out) their old home and that no relatives remain living there – will, in most cases, be eligible to do one of two things: stay at their present school and continue to be eligible to compete, or transfer to a high school in the new district and be eligible to compete there.
In other transfer situations – for example, a student transfers to another high school, but the parents remain at their current residence – students are generally not eligible at the new school for a full year after making the transfer. A number of exceptions exist to this general rule, however, such as in the following situations:
- Hardship cases, where the change in schools was “due to an unavoidable hardship beyond the student's control”;
- Cases where the student-athlete has been living “for extended periods with adult family members or adult friends of the family who are not a parent” or guardian;
- Student-athletes who are at least 18 and choose to live on their own.
Because of the complexity of the OSSAA's transfer student eligibility regulations, if your family or your student is considering any kind of a move – whether of your home or of your student's school – it can be very helpful to contact student-athlete Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team so that they can help you sort through the many regulations in this area and make sure you have a complete picture of the effect your move (or your student-athlete's move) would have on their eligibility.
Joseph D. Lento Can Help Keep Your Student-Athlete Competing
Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have been advising student-athletes all over the country who have questions about eligibility issues or find themselves in situations where their eligibility to compete in their chosen sport is threatened. They have the experience to understand and apply the OSSAA rules, regulations, forms, and processes to help make sure your student-athlete has the best chance possible to stay eligible to compete.
If you have any questions about your student-athlete's eligibility or if their eligibility is being threatened, call Joseph D. Lento today at 888.535.3686 or reach out online to the Lento Law Firm Team to schedule a confidential consultation. They understand how important this is to your student-athlete, and are here to listen and help!
