Late Tuesday night, the Alabama House of Representatives passed legislation excluding non-athletic English language learner (ELL) students from being counted toward a school's daily average for the first five years of enrollment.
State Rep. Brock Colvin (R-Albertville) proposed HB298 to boost athletic programs at schools such as his alma mater, Albertville City Schools. The school transitioned from a 5A to a 7A classification due to an influx of immigrant students, many of whom chose not to participate in sports.
"I appreciate my colleagues for supporting HB298 and taking an important step to restore fairness and safety to high school athletics," Colvin said in a Facebook post Tuesday. "For over three years, legislators have relayed their concerns regarding schools being forced to move up in classification due to a rise in English Language Learners (ELL) enrollment to the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA)."
AHSAA executive director Heath Harmon issued a statement condemning the bill.
"A classification directive that does not go through our democratic legislative process and classification committee lacks the support and thorough vetting that is necessary for successful implementation," Harmon said. "As an Association, we are committed to supporting all member schools in all sports in addition to promoting participation. This bill is in direct opposition to those commitments."
Colvin hit back at Harmon for not supporting the bill and for falsely claiming it would prevent ELL students from participating in athletics.
"Time and time again, our concerns of fairness, safety, and the discouragement of student athletes have fallen on deaf ears. Members of the Legislature would have preferred this issue be a priority of the association and handled through its governing body, so to say this legislation is the product of necessity is an understatement. All I can surmise from the AHSAA's lack of support on HB298 is that its leadership does not view the safety of our student athletes as a high priority."
Colvin continued, "I would also like to point out that, at the association's request, the Legislature previously passed legislation allowing AHSAA staff and its executive director to receive the same state-funded retirement benefits as school system employees – benefits granted in recognition of their service to public schools. The AHSAA depends on public school membership and the use of public school facilities to function. So, for them to act as though they should be immune from legislation that governs their actions – which impact tens of thousands of Alabama's student athletes – only further validates the need for HB298. The bottom line is that my only goal is to protect student athletes, and I feel we have taken a positive step in that direction."
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