Parents advocating for bill to allow homeschool students to compete in state-sanctioned athletic events
By Caleb Barnes
Click here for updates on this story
WILLIAMSTOWN, Kentucky (WLEX) — More than 30 states allow homeschool athletes to compete in state-sanctioned competition, but Kentucky is not one of those. Parents are hoping a new bill would change the requirements so their kids can compete in future state events.
Currently, KHSAA requires student-athletes to be enrolled in courses as a full-time student at the school they are competing with. That law impacts these athletes because homeschool students are not enrolled full-time at a member school, so they cannot participate in state-sanctioned events and tournaments.
“My oldest daughter that we homeschooled had to return to public high school this year in order to continue to compete with her peers for both wrestling and softball,” said Jessica Svec.
Her daughter, Aaliyah, was a state champion in wrestling this year.
“She wouldn’t have even been able to see the match if she didn’t go to school,” Svec said.
“I would love to swim high school,” said Ben Barnes-Israel, who is a sophomore homeschool swimmer. “I was the only high school boy on my team who couldn’t swim high school this year. I had to stick with the YMCA club.”
“My oldest daughter that we homeschooled had to return to public high school this year in order to continue to compete with her peers for both wrestling and softball,” said Jessica Svec.
Her daughter, Aaliyah, was a state champion in wrestling this year.
“She wouldn’t have even been able to see the match if she didn’t go to school,” Svec said.
“I would love to swim high school,” said Ben Barnes-Israel, who is a sophomore homeschool swimmer. “I was the only high school boy on my team who couldn’t swim high school this year. I had to stick with the YMCA club.”
Because of this, Franklin believes Joshua would benefit from a private school education. However, private schools in their area are small and lack programs like football.
Franklin hopes to see the bill succeed, so they can have the option to homeschool Joshua while he plays football.
“He could go to a school that he would thrive in and be able to go back to the district that loves him and he loves and still be able to play the sports that he wants,” Franklin said.
Parents and advocates say they’ve been pushing for this sort of change in Kentucky for 15 years now, but have been unsuccessful so far. More than 2,000 parents from 111 counties have signed a petition supporting HB 421, hoping to make their voices heard.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.