A Florida bill has passed its committee vote to expand private school student eligibility to compete on public school sports teams. House Bill 151, “Private School Student Participation in Interscholastic and Intrascholastic Extracurricular Sports” was introduced by Rep. Shane Abbott.
If it passes a vote in the Fla., House of Representatives, the bill would become effective July 1, 2025.
According to WCTV, “The idea of the bill is to create a level playing field for all students in the state.” The bill also aims to align athletics with the overall school-of-choice landscape in Florida.
One such private school is the Community Leadership Academy. The school offers some sports, but the school’s founder Peter Boulware wants to offer his students more athletic opportunities. The school currently offers girls and boys’ basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track and field, volleyball and flag football. If House Bill 151 passes, then private schools like the Community Leadership Academy would join the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA).
Under the current guidelines, private school students can only participate on public school sports teams if the private school has fewer than 200 students and is not already a member of the FHSAA.
“Get them involved, get them playing, get them in something. The more we can do that, the opportunities we can give our students the better we can make our students,” Boulware said.
Rep. Fiona McFarland supported the bill in its committee vote. She said, “If you’re a parent and you’re school journey for your child, do you choose sports or do you choose academics or do you try to meet in the middle somewhere? This removes that trade-off.”
Boulware added, “We believe if we get under that and participate it would make us a better school, it will make our athletes better, but it will also give us access to other things we can do for our school and our students.”
House Bill 151 will be considered when the regular session starts on March 4.
