Reps. ERICKSON and HAYES proposes the following amendment (LC-4163.WAB0003H):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, by striking Section and inserting:

SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "South Carolina High School League Oversight and Accountability ActSouth Carolina High School Athletic Association Act."

Amend the bill further, by striking SECTIONS 2 and 3 and inserting:

SECTION X. Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

CHAPTER 9

High School League Oversight and Accountability

 Section 59-9-110. Effective June 30, 2027, a public school district, including charter schools and their authorizers, may not join, affiliate with, pay dues or fees to, or in any way financially support any interscholastic athletic association, body, or entity unless the constitution, bylaws, rules, or other governing that govern the association, body, or entity contain the following:
 (1) A provision requiring that the governing body of the association, body, or entity must be comprised solely of:
  (a) one member from each classification selected by a vote of the respective schools, provided that the number of members selected from this item shall not number more than five, whose terms must be set by the body but may not exceed two years;
  (b) two members appointed by the Chair of the House Education and Public Works Committee, who shall serve at the pleasure of the chair;
  (c) two members appointed by the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, who shall serve at the pleasure of the chair;
  (d) one member appointed by the State Superintendent of Education upon the recommendation of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, or its successor, to serve at his pleasure and who shall chair the executive committee;
  (e) two members who are current athletic officials, one each appointed by the Speaker of the House and President of the for Senate, for a term of two years;
  (f) one member appointed by the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association or its successor organization, who shall serve a term of two years; and
  (g) two members appointed by Governor, one who must be a current principal upon the recommendation of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators or its successor organization and one upon the recommendation of the South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association or its successor organization, each of whom shall serve a term of two years.
 (2) A provision requiring that the association, body, or entity be subject to audits performed by the Legislative Audit Council.
 (3) A provision requiring that the association, body, or entity shall submit its annual budget to the General Assembly and be subject to appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee.
 (4) A provision requiring that the association, body, or entity must be subject to legislative oversight as provided in Chapter 2, Title 2.
 (5) A provision requiring that the commissioner of the association, body, or entity shall file an annual Statement of Economic Interest with the South Carolina Ethics Commission.
 (6) A provision requiring that any employment contract with the commissioner of the association, body, or entity may not:
  (a) exceed three years; or
  (b) contain an automatic rollover provision.
 (7) A provision requiring the use of a range of sanctions that:
  (a) may be applied to a student, coach, team, or program; and
  (b) considers factors such as seriousness, frequency, and other relevant factors when there is a violation of the constitution, bylaws, rules, or other governing provisions of the association, body, or entity.
 (8) Provisions concerning private schools and charter schools that:
  (a) afford a private school or a charter school the same rights and privileges that are enjoyed by all other members of the association, body, or entity;
  (b) prohibit expulsion of a private school or a charter school or the unreasonably withholding of the membership of a private school or a charter school based solely on its status as a private school or a charter school;
  (c) prohibit restrictions on the ability of a private school or a charter school to participate in interscholastic athletics including, but not limited to, state playoffs or championships;
  (d) require the establishment of reasonable standards for the admission of private schools and charter schools as members of the association, body, or entity; and
  (e) require that when a private school or charter school is denied membership in the association, body, or entity, the school must be provided the reason or reasons for the rejection of its application for membership in writing within five business days after the denial.
 (9) A provision that guarantees a South Carolina home school athletic team that is a member of a home school athletic association may not be denied access to preseason and regular season interscholastic athletics including, but not limited to, jamborees and invitational tournaments, based solely on its status as a home school athletic team; provided, however, all other rules or policies of the association, body, or entity must apply.
 (10) A provision that creates a uniform system applicable to all member schools at the varsity, sub-varsity, junior varsity, and middle school levels that establishes fines for the cancellation of a scheduled contest regardless of whether the contest is in-region or out-of-region, including for the refusal of a member school to schedule a mandatory region contest with another member school within the same region, including, but not limited to, requirements that:
  (a) a school which cancels a scheduled contest must be fined an amount equal to the cost incurred for officials, tickets, and concessions or one thousand dollars, whichever is greater; and
  (b) a waiver of the fine may be granted only if the contest is rescheduled or cancelled for a documented health or safety reason, in which case the school may not be fined.
 (11) A total provision that prohibits students from earning compensation from the use of their names, images, or likenesses (NIL).
 (12) A provision that allows an individual student who attends a private school in this State to have the opportunity to try out for and, if selected, participate in an interscholastic athletic program offered at a public school in the district if the:
   (a) student resides within the attendance zone boundaries of the public school;
   (b) private school which the student attends is not a member of the South Carolina High School League;
   (c) private school which the student attends does not offer the particular sport for the student's gender;
   (d) particular sport in which the student seeks to participate is offered at the public school located in the attendance zone where the student resides;
   (e) student notifies the superintendent of the public school district in writing of his intent to try out in the particular sport as a representative of the public school before the beginning date of the season for the sport in which he wishes to try out;
   (f) student pays for all sport-specific fees charged by the public school for an individual student to participate in the particular sport;
   (g) student meets all public school district eligibility requirements, except for the:
    (i) class and enrollment requirements of the school district; and
    (ii) class and enrollment requirements of the association which administers the interscholastic sports;
   (h) student and the student's parent or guardian agrees for the student to be subject to the code of conduct of the public school; and
   (i) student has not been expelled from the same public school during the same academic year.
 (13) A provision that allows the participation of private schools students in interscholastic athletic programs supervised by the entity.
 (14) A provision that establishes uniform eligibility requirements for new students to participate in interscholastic athletics. These eligibility requirements may not be more restrictive in language or application than the rules or policies of the association, body, or entity that were in effect on January 1, 2020.
 (15) A provision that the association, body, or entity may not apply public school academic, athletic, or extracurricular policies or procedures to any private school that a student attends if the student also participates in a public high school league sport pursuant to the terms of this chapter, except for requirements related to maintaining a certain grade-point average and grade level for participating in and attending regularly scheduled practices of the sports team.
 (16) A provision that the association, body, or entity shall establish a multiplier system for the purpose of classification that considers a school's geographic location, student population, and performance in each sport in which it participates.

 Section 59-9-120. Notwithstanding any athlete transfer rules and policies adopted by the association, body, or entity, a student who attends a school outside of his attendance zone may immediately participate in interscholastic competitions if the student is otherwise academically eligible and the following conditions are met:
 (1) for students enrolled in middle school, the association shall allow a one-time transfer after eligibility is established in the seventh grade; and
 (2) for students enrolled in high school, the association shall allow a one-time transfer after eligibility is established in the ninth grade.

 Section 59-9-130. (A) The association, body, or entity shall establish an appeals process through which appeals of decisions by the association, body, or entity may be made to a disinterested third-party appellate panel. The panel must consist of seven members who serve four-year terms, with one person appointed by the delegation of each congressional district.
 (B)(1) A member of the panel shall serve until his successor is appointed and qualified. A vacancy on the panel must be filled in the manner of the original appointment.
  (2) Members of the appellate panel may not concurrently serve as officers of the association, body, or entity and may not have served as a member of the executive committee within the three-year period immediately preceding their appointment to the appellate panel.
  (3) Principals and superintendents may appeal a ruling of the association, body, or entity to the panel. The appellate panel also must provide the final ruling in any appeal brought against a decision of the association, body, or entity.
 (C) The association shall establish and ensure a procedure for emergency appeals to be held and decided upon in an expedited manner if the normal appellate process would prohibit the participation of a student, team, program, or school in an athletic event, to include competitions and practices.

 Section 59-9-140. (A) There is created the High School Athletics Oversight and Accountability Committee to examine and study the operations and management of the South Carolina High School League and public school athletics.
 (B) The committee must consist of nine members, including:
  (1) three members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate;
  (2) three members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House; and
  (3) three members appointed by the Governor.
 (C) The Senate Education Committee and the House Education and Public Works Committee shall provide appropriate staffing and meeting facilities for the committee.
 (D) The committee shall report findings to the Governor and General Assembly before June 30, 2026, at which time the committee is dissolved.

SECTION X. Section 59-63-100(A)(3) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 (3) "Home school student" is a child taught in accordance with Section 59-65-40, 59-65-45, or 59-65-47 and has been taught in accordance with one of these sections for a full academic year prior to participating in an interscholastic activity pursuant to this section. The requirement of being taught for one full academic year as a home school student before being granted eligibility for interscholastic activity is waived if the student attended a public or private school within the previous academic year and was not expelled, assigned to an alternative school for disciplinary reasons, or earned a grade point average of 1.0 or higher.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.