If your student competes for one or more of their Vermont high school's athletic squads (whether it's a team sport or an individual sport), you know how important it is to them that they remain eligible to participate. While eligibility might not be something your student-athlete talks about a lot, if they face a situation where their eligibility is threatened, you can be sure that they're going to be worried and upset about the possibility of losing the chance to compete for their school. That's where the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help. Our experienced student-athlete attorneys understand Vermont's high school sports eligibility requirements and will help protect your student-athlete's ability to compete. Call us at 888.535.3686, or use our contact form to set up a confidential conference to discuss your student-athletes situation.
High school athletics in Vermont are governed by the Vermont Principals' Association (VPA), which publishes a set of policies that cover not only student-athlete eligibility but also issues relating to schools, coaches, and officials. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has prepared this summary of key student-athlete eligibility policies to make it easier for parents and guardians to be aware of the eligibility requirements that apply in Vermont.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
Student-athletes are eligible to compete in high school sports in Vermont until they turn 19. If they turn 19 before August 1, they are ineligible to compete during the coming school year. If they turn 19 on or after August 1, they will remain age-eligible to compete throughout the entire academic year.
The VPA permits student-athletes to compete for four consecutive years or 8 consecutive semesters starting with the first semester of 9th grade. Students are not allowed to compete in more than four seasons of any single sport.
Waivers of both the age limit and consecutive year/semester-limit rules may be available. The VPA notes that age-limit waivers may be granted “only under extraordinary circumstances” involving “undue hardship,” where granting the waiver won't “harm other participants or the fairness of competition.”
Waivers of other eligibility policies, including the consecutive year/semester-limit rule, may be easier to obtain. The VPA's Activities Standards Committee will review waiver requests, which must include:
- The student's transcript
- A letter from a school administrator that supports the waiver request
- A letter from the parent and student “describing the request.”
- Other “pertinent information”
Once received, the VPA will schedule a meeting of the Activities Standards Committee where “school representatives, the student, and the parent/guardian” will be invited to attend and “may present information.”
Note that the waiver application must be submitted by the school, not by the student or the family. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team is frequently asked to help prepare the information needed to support an effective waiver request. This helps save valuable school administrators' time and resources and also ensures that the waiver request is as fully supported and persuasive as possible.
The VPA defines “undue hardship” as being a “situation to the student-athlete which is severe enough to prevent the normal application of VPA eligibility rules.” A hardship situation is generally not one where the hardship situation was caused by a choice made by the student-athlete or their parents or guardians.
Decisions of the VPA regarding eligibility questions or eligibility waiver requests may be appealed to the VPA. If the eligibility determination was made by the “VPA Office,” the appeal is to the VPA Activity Standards Committee. Where the decision came from the Activity Standards Committee, the appeal goes to the VPA Appeals Committee, also known as the VPA Board of Appeals. Note that where the eligibility determination is made by the student-athletes' school based on school policy, any appeal must be through the school or school district, not the VPA.
Academic Eligibility Issues
The VPA leaves student-athlete academic eligibility determinations up to the individual high schools. Student-athletes are required to be “enrolled in their school and must meet the school's prescribed academic and eligibility rules.” The VPA notes that eligibility determinations on “all matters other than academic progress” can be appealed to the VPA, meaning that when it comes to issues of academic eligibility, parents and guardians need to look to their student-athletes school to resolve them.
This means that it's extremely important for parents, guardians, and student-athletes to have a clear understanding of what their high school's academic eligibility requirements are. These will likely be in a student or parent handbook or some other publication from the school.
No matter what the policies are, it's generally a good idea to keep close tabs on your student-athlete's academic progress during the school year. This gives you a chance to intervene early if grades begin to slip or assignments aren't turned in. Sometimes, the answer is making sure your student-athlete makes time to study and do their homework. At other times, however, you might need to have a discussion with one or more of their teachers about the situation. And, in some cases where it appears as though a teacher is acting in an unfair manner towards your student-athlete, you may need to meet with school administrators about the problem.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team regularly helps parents and guardians who need to “go to bat” for their students with school administrators. Our experienced education law attorneys know how to make sure students' rights are protected and how to communicate with school personnel in a professional but firm way.
School Disciplinary Defense
The VPA also leaves in-school discipline up to the individual schools. Student-athletes spend far more time in the classroom than they do at practice or in competition, so the possibility is greater that in-school discipline will affect their eligibility. This is because schools typically give themselves a lot of leeway when it comes to disciplining students found to have committed academic misconduct or other types of prohibited behavior. The school's response can range from verbal warnings all the way to expulsion, but one common type of discipline is to restrict the student from participating in extracurricular activities – including, of course, athletics.
Depending on the situation, it can often make sense to retain an experienced education law attorney to help with serious accusations of student misconduct. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team regularly helps students – including student-athletes – with misconduct allegations that can cloud their school records. Where necessary, we'll conduct our own investigation of the allegations because our experience is that busy school administrators often miss key facts that can make a difference when disciplining the student. We can also negotiate with the school in situations where there is misconduct to arrive at a suitable consequence that will keep the student-athlete competing while still respecting the school's legitimate need to maintain discipline. And in cases that go to a hearing, we will represent the student-athlete and make sure their rights are respected by the school.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
The VPA prohibits unsportsmanlike behavior, including taunting and harassment, in addition to other types of flagrant fouls or inappropriate physical contact. A student-athlete who is ejected from a competition will be ineligible for the next competition in football, skiing, and gymnastics and from the next two competitions in all other sports. A second ejection will result in the student-athlete being suspended for the rest of that sport's season.
A student-athlete who makes “aggressive physical contact” with an official will be ejected from that competition and “may be ineligible to participate in all sports for one full calendar year,” depending on the decision of the VPA Activities Standards Committee.
Ejections can be appealed in certain limited circumstances – in particular, where the ejection was “caused by gross misconduct by the official” or where the official provides the VPA with “a written report stating that the ejection was erroneous.”
If your student-athlete has been wrongfully ejected from a competition – as can happen when officials mistakenly identify the wrong player in a complicated on-field or on-court situation – the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you work with your student-athlete's school and the official to provide the official with evidence showing that a mistake was made. This will typically be in the form of video footage of the infraction that shows the official ejected the wrong student or ejected your student-athlete for behavior that was not intended to be aggressive or flagrant. Our experienced student-athlete attorneys can then help make sure the official provides a written report with the VPA acknowledging the mistake.
Eligibility After a School Transfer
The VPA has fairly liberal transfer eligibility policies compared to high school athletic associations in many other states. If a school transfer does happen at the same time as a “bona fide change in residence” of the student-athlete's family, the student is immediately eligible to compete at the new school.
Even where there is no change of residence, a student-athlete will be eligible to compete at a new school if they transfer to that school “before the first play date of that sports season.” If they transfer after the first “play date,” they must wait only 20 calendar days before they're eligible. If they compete for less than 60% of the regular season competitions at the new school, however, they won't be eligible for any post-season competition. Students who transfer due to recruitment or other types of inducements must wait 365 days “from the date of the infraction” before they can compete.
Student-athletes who make a transfer to a new school and then transfer back to their original school “are not eligible for sports participation for the remainder of that school year” unless the transfer is the result of a bona fide change in their family's residence.
The VPA may waive even these fairly liberal restrictions. If the school shows that the student's transfer “was made for reasons not related to activities,” then the VPA can waive any of the waiting periods. If your student-athlete needs a waiver in any of these kinds of situations (20-day waiting period, 60% requirement, or 365-day waiting period), contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team to find out how we can help keep your student-athlete competing.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Keep Your Student-Athlete Competing
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has helped students and student-athletes all over the country, including Vermont, address serious issues that had the potential to limit their eligibility to participate in the high school sports that they love. Our experienced student-defense attorneys understand the VPA policies, school grading and disciplinary procedures, and your student-athlete's rights and are ready to help them stay on the field, court, diamond, track, or wherever their sport has them competing.
If your student-athlete is facing a situation that could keep them from competing, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to set up a confidential consultation. We know how important this is for you and your student-athlete, and we're here to listen and to help!
