NCHSAA Responds to Revised House Bill 91

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released a letter Tuesday by Bobby Wilkins, President of the NCHSAA and Principal at Hendersonville High School, on the revised edition of House Bill 91 (HB 91) introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly Tuesday:

Back in the summer, a group of legislators introduced a version of House Bill 91 that would have prevented North Carolina high schools from continuing to participate in athletic competition organized by the North Carolina High SchoolAthletic Association, to the detriment of our state’s student-athletes.

Since the bill was introduced, and through multiple rounds of revisions to the bill, the Board of Directors and staff of the NCHSAA have worked with members of the General Assembly and the State Board of Education to express our concerns about the negative impact House Bill 91 would have on our member schools’ student-athletes.

Although we continued to believe that legislation was unnecessary, we advocated for changes to the legislation that would best serve the needs of student-athletes.

As of today, House Bill 91 has been revised to reflect these changes. The revised legislation allows the State Board of Education to reach a memorandum of understanding with a designated organization for that organization to administer high school athletics.

The State Board of Education has assured the NCHSAA that it will work with the Association to reach a memorandum of understanding with the NCHSAA.

Considering the changes to the legislation, and assurances that the State Board of Education will partner with the NCHSAA so that we can continue to serve our member schools, the Board of Directors of the NCHSAA does not oppose the passage of House Bill 91 as revised.

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The NCHSAA remains committed to negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the State Board of Education that will support and promote the development of high school athletics in our state in a positive manner.

*This was an issued press release from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.