Minnesota Session Laws - 1987, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1987 

                         CHAPTER 243-H.F.No. 96 
           An act relating to the state high school league; 
          requiring the league to arrange certain conference 
          memberships; providing standards; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1986, section 129.121, subdivision 1, and by 
          adding a subdivision. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 129.121, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  The governing board of any high school may 
delegate the control, supervision and regulation of 
interscholastic athletics and other extracurricular activities 
referred to in section 123.38 to the Minnesota state high school 
league, a nonprofit incorporated voluntary association.  
Membership in said Minnesota state high school league shall be 
composed of such Minnesota high schools whose governing boards 
have certified in writing to the state commissioner of education 
that they have elected to delegate the control, supervision and 
regulation of their interscholastic athletic events and other 
extracurricular activities to said league.  The Minnesota state 
high school league is hereby empowered to exercise the control, 
supervision and regulation of interscholastic athletics, 
musical, dramatic and other contests by and between pupils of 
the Minnesota high schools, delegated to it pursuant to this 
section.  The Minnesota high school league may establish a 
policy or guidelines for the guidance of member high schools in 
the voluntary formation or alteration of athletic or other 
extracurricular conferences.  Except as otherwise provided by 
section 2, the formation or alteration of conferences is 
voluntary. 
    The commissioner of education, or the commissioner's 
representative, shall be an ex officio member of the governing 
body of such the Minnesota state high school league, with the 
same rights and privileges as other members of its governing 
body.  The rules of said league shall be exempt from the 
provisions of sections 14.02, 14.04 to 14.36, 14.38, 14.44 to 
14.45, and 14.57 to 14.62. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 129.121, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 1a.  The league shall arrange membership for schools 
in athletic or other extracurricular conferences to the extent 
and in the manner provided by this subdivision.  After notice 
and an opportunity for participation by league members at a 
public hearing, the league shall develop criteria to arrange 
membership in athletic or other extracurricular conferences for 
schools that make a written request pursuant to this 
subdivision.  The criteria shall include, at least, the distance 
to be traveled by competing schools, the relative enrollments of 
the schools, and the comparability of athletic or other 
extracurricular activities in the schools. 
    Within 90 days after receiving a written request from a 
member high school, the league shall, following the criteria 
developed pursuant to this subdivision, arrange membership in an 
athletic or other extracurricular conference for any high school 
that (1) lacks membership in a conference because of involuntary 
exclusion from a conference or because of the dissolution of a 
conference and (2) has made its own good faith attempts for at 
least 180 days to obtain membership in a conference.  The 180 
days run from the date of the member school's first written 
request to join or rejoin a conference.  When arranging 
conference membership for a school, the league shall notify the 
school seeking membership and all schools already in a proposed 
conference that, upon request of a notified school, a public 
hearing on the proposed conference membership will be held in a 
timely manner.  The school seeking conference membership and the 
schools already in a proposed conference are bound by the 
league's final decision under this subdivision on a matter of 
conference membership. 
    Approved May 26, 1987