S-3456.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6455

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington   57th Legislature        2002 Regular Session

By Senators Prentice, Kastama, Thibaudeau, McAuliffe and Kohl‑Welles

Read first time 01/17/2002.  Referred to Committee on Education.

Requiring physical examinations prior to participation in interscholastic athletic activities.

    AN ACT Relating to physical examinations by health practitioners; and amending RCW 28A.600.200.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 28A.600.200 and 1990 c 33 s 502 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) 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))) (a) The voluntary nonprofit entity shall submit an annual report to the state board of education of student appeal determinations, assets, and financial receipts and disbursements at such time and in such detail as the state board shall establish by rule;

    (((2))) (b) 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;

    (((3))) (c) Any rules and policies applied by the voluntary nonprofit entity which govern student participation in any interschool activity shall be written and subject to the annual review and approval of the state board of education at such time as it shall establish;

    (((4))) (d) All amendments and repeals of such rules and policies shall be subject to the review and approval of the state board; and

    (((5))) (e) 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.  Any such decision 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.645.010 through 28A.645.030.

(2) Prior to the first practice for participation in interscholastic athletics in a middle level school, and prior to the first practice for participation in a high school, a student must undergo a thorough physical examination and be approved for either middle level or high school athletic competition, or both, by a health professional licensed to perform a physical examination.  The physical examination must be performed by a physician, an osteopathic physician, a physician's assistant, a chiropractor, an advanced registered nurse practitioner, a naturopathic physician, or other health care professional, acting within the scope of his or her license as provided in rules created by the voluntary nonprofit entity.  A student wishing to participate at the high school level for the first time is required to have a new physical regardless of when that student had his or her last physical examination.  This physical examination may include other requirements provided by rule.

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