READ FIRST TIME 01/31/12.   

     AN ACT Relating to the Washington interscholastic activities association; amending RCW 28A.600.200 and 28A.600.205; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the mission of the Washington interscholastic activities association is to assist member schools in operating student programs that foster achievement, respect, equity, enthusiasm, and excellence in a safe and organized environment. The legislature intends to ensure that this mission is successfully carried out so that arbitrary sanctions that result in students unfairly being denied to participate or cause students' achievements to be diminished do not occur. It is the intent of the legislature to impact the association's current processes for establishing penalties for rules violations and to redefine the scope of penalties that are permitted to be imposed. It is further the intent of the legislature to build protections into state law so that punishment, when necessary, is meted out to the appropriate party and in a proportional manner. The legislature further intends to ensure that state and local rules relating to interschool extracurricular activities be consistent with one another, promote fairness, and allow for a clear process of appeal.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.600.200 and 2006 c 263 s 904 are each amended to read as follows:
     Each school district board of directors is hereby granted and shall exercise the authority to control, supervise and regulate the conduct of interschool athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular activities of an athletic, cultural, social or recreational nature for students of the district. A board of directors may delegate control, supervision and regulation of any such activity to the Washington interscholastic activities association or any other voluntary nonprofit entity and compensate such entity for services provided, subject to the following conditions:
     (1) The voluntary nonprofit entity shall not discriminate in connection with employment or membership upon its governing board, or otherwise in connection with any function it performs, on the basis of race, creed, national origin, sex or marital status;
     (2)(a) Any rules and policies adopted and applied by the voluntary nonprofit entity ((which)) that governs student participation in any interschool activity shall be written; and
     (((3))) (b) Such rules and policies shall provide for notice of the reasons and a fair opportunity to contest such reasons prior to a final determination to reject a student's request to participate in or to continue in an interschool activity.
     (3)(a) The association or other voluntary nonprofit entity is authorized to impose penalties for rules violations upon coaches, school district administrators, school administrators, and students, as appropriate, to punish the offending party or parties;
     (b) No penalty may be imposed on a student or students unless the student or students knowingly violated the rules or unless a student gained a significant competitive advantage or materially disadvantaged another student through a rule violation;
     (c) Any penalty that is imposed for rules violations must be proportional to the offense;
     (d) Any ((such)) decision resulting in a penalty shall be considered a decision of the school district conducting the activity in which the student seeks to participate or was participating and may be appealed pursuant to RCW 28A.600.205 and 28A.645.010 through 28A.645.030.
     (4) The school districts, Washington interscholastic activities association districts, and leagues that participate in the interschool extracurricular activities shall not impose more severe penalties for rule violations than can be imposed by the rules of the association or the voluntary nonprofit entity.
     (5) As used in this section and RCW 28A.600.205, "knowingly" means having actual knowledge of or acting with deliberate ignorance or reckless disregard for the prohibition involved.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.600.205 and 2006 c 263 s 905 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((By July 1, 2006,)) (1)(a) The Washington interscholastic activities association shall establish a nine-person appeals committee to address appeals of noneligibility issues. The committee shall be comprised of the secretary from each of the activity districts of the Washington interscholastic activities association. The committee shall begin hearing appeals by July 1, 2006. No committee member may participate in the appeal process if the member was involved in the activity that was the basis of the appeal.
     (b) Any penalty or sanction that is imposed or upheld by the appeals committee must be proportional to the offense and must be imposed upon only the offending individual or individuals, including coaches, school district administrators, school administrators, and students. However, only the Washington interscholastic activities association executive board has the authority to remove a team from postseason competition. Should a school violate a Washington interscholastic activities association rule, that violation does not automatically remove that school's team from postseason competition. Penalties levied against coaches and school programs must be considered before removing a team from postseason competition. Removal of a team from postseason competition must be the last option.
     (2)(a) A decision of the appeals committee may be appealed to the executive board of the association. If a matter is appealed to the executive board, then the board shall conduct a de novo review of the matter before making a decision.
     (b) Any penalty or sanction that is imposed or upheld by the executive board must be proportional to the offense and must be imposed upon only the offending individual or individuals including coaches, school district administrators, school administrators, or students. However, only the Washington interscholastic activities association executive board has the authority to remove a team from postseason competition. Should a school violate a Washington interscholastic activities association rule, that violation does not automatically remove that school's team from postseason competition. Penalties levied against coaches and school programs must be considered before removing a team from postseason competition. Removal of a team from postseason competition must be the last option.
     (c) If a rule violation is reported to the association within ten days of the relevant postseason play, then the only review shall be conducted by the executive board of the Washington interscholastic activities association so that a decision can be rendered in a timely manner. The executive board must take all possible actions to render a decision before the postseason play takes place.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   This act may be known and cited as the Knight act.