Senator: Hearings needed for high school sports association

COLUMBUS - Two state senators plan to introduce legislation that would reform spending practices and rules of the private association that governs high school sports in Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday.

"I think the General Assembly should at least have hearings about it, and the leadership should consider doing it," Sen. Leigh Herrington, D-Ravenna, told the newspaper.

The Dispatch recently reported that an investigation revealed possible illegal and unethical practices involving travel, cellular phone use, meals and other expenses by some of the Ohio High School Athletic Association's 36 district board members.

Sen. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, said he will introduce legislation requiring the OHSAA to provide regular financial reports to lawmakers.

"There is all this control of schools, and with 85 percent of the schools being public institutions, there's no real oversight from the General Assembly," he said.

Jordan also said he has concerns about the OHSAA's new student-transfer rule, which he says would supersede the state's open-enrollment law.

An OHSAA bylaw approved in the fall by a vote of member high schools makes student-athletes ineligible for one year if they transfer from one school to another without moving to the new school district.

Open-enrollment, which was adopted in 1989, allows students living in one district to go to school in another, provided it has room. It was meant to give students more academic options, but also has been used by athletes who want to play for high schools with better sports programs.

Both senators said efforts to reform the OHSAA will be delayed until lawmakers can come up with a new school-funding plan.

OHSAA Commissioner Clair Muscaro said he would like lawmakers to allow the association to correct its problems before any oversight is considered.

Muscaro has appointed a 12-member panel to recommend changes in the OHSAA's structure and financial practices. The committee's recommendations are due to the association's nine-member board of control by July 15.