1. Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting
3. Old Business

1. The Legislative Council, at its December 10, 2008 meeting, tabled the legislative proposal change regarding who may serve on the Board and Council. The proposal was as follows:

   To change Article III, Section 2 (3rd paragraph) and Article IV, Section 2 (3rd paragraph) regarding elections to state:

   All members of the Board of Control must be full-time employees (minimum of 100 school days) who are principals or a representative of the Director of Schools who oversees the athletics of the school district. (An assistant principal who devotes full time to administrative duties shall be eligible to serve.) A member of the Legislative Council cannot serve on the Board of control at the same time.

   All members of the Legislative Council must be full-time employees (minimum of 100 school days) who are principals or a representative of the Director of Schools who oversees the athletics of the school district. (An assistant principal who devotes full time to administrative duties shall be eligible to serve.) A member of the Board of Control cannot serve on the Legislative Council at the same time.

   After much discussion, the proposal was tabled to the March meeting so wording of the proposal could be more definitive. More information was then sent to all nine Legislative Council members to share with schools in their area. The concerns were not only in regard to the large percentage of votes in favor of the proposal, but also in regard to the other side which is that the proposal should allow a director of schools to serve on the Board or Council since he/she might be in charge of athletics for that particular school system. There was also discussion among the Council concerning the lack of discussion at the Regional Meetings and the possibility that this could indicate that administrators are not fully aware of all the ramifications of this proposed change. The feeling of the Council, at this meeting, was that this would provide each of the members an opportunity to communicate with schools in their area. After reviewing all of the information, the options that could be before the Council would be as follows:

   1. A change in the language to add athletic director for a school system.
   2. A change to have the wording to permit either an athletic director or a director of schools to be able to run for the Board of Control or Legislative Council position.
   3. Leave the rule as it is.
   4. That Mr. Childress place this on the Administrators Meetings in the fall as a point of discussion in each of the eight areas of the state where meetings will be held so that all of the ramifications could be discussed with administrators at that time. This would then allow the vote to either come back to the Legislative Council in December for action for the 2010-2011 school year or could be placed back on the Regional Meetings agenda in the fall.

2. Discussion and Proposal Concerning Article II, Section 10 of the TSSAA Bylaws (Physical Examination and Parental Consent).
3. Discussion of Article II, Section 7 (Repeating Rule) of the TSSAA Bylaws (tabled from the December meeting)
   Article II, Section 7 of the TSSAA Bylaws states:

   Any student repeating the seventh grade after having passed the seventh grade or repeating the eighth grade after passing the eighth grade shall not be eligible to participate in athletics during their ninth-grade year.

   The proposal for changing the wording in Article II, Section would be as follows:

   Section 7. A student who repeats the seventh or eighth grade after passing that grade and participates in school athletics while repeating shall be ineligible to participate in athletics in the ninth grade.

4. Discussion of the Revised Wording in Article II, Section 17 of the TSSAA Bylaws (Recruiting Rule)
5. Change in Wording in Article III, Section 7-B of the TSSAA Bylaws
   The Legislative Council, at its December meeting, voted to change the rule regarding ejections in soccer. The revised wording would be as follows:

   B. On the ejection of the student-athlete, the school will be required to submit a report on the action of the player and any disciplinary action taken by the school. The minimum penalty will be as follows:

   1. Football - 1 game suspension
   2. Soccer - 2 game suspension except for the following offenses which shall result in a one-game suspension:
   

   a. A player anywhere on the field (other than a goalkeeper within his/her own penalty area) who deliberately handles a ball to prevent it from going into the goal
   b. A foul by a player against an opponent who is moving toward his/her offensive goal with an obvious opportunity to score.

   
   3. All other sports - 2 game suspension

   
   The student-athlete is also suspended from all levels of participation (varsity, junior varsity, freshman) the same number of contest(s) in the sport involved.

   If the student is a senior and cannot fulfill all of the disciplinary action due to the completion of the season, he/she will fulfill the action in the next sport in which they participate.

6. Change in Wording in Rule 11-I in the TMSAA Bylaws

   B. On the ejection of the student-athlete, the school will be required to submit a report on the action of the player and any disciplinary action taken by the school. The minimum penalty will be as follows:

   1. Football - 1 game suspension
   2. Soccer - 2 game suspension except for the following offenses which shall result in a one-game suspension:
   

   a. A player anywhere on the field (other than a goalkeeper within his/her own penalty area) who deliberately handles a ball to prevent it from going into the goal
   b. A foul by a player against an opponent who is moving toward his/her offensive goal with an obvious opportunity to score.

   
   3. All other sports - 2 game suspension

   
   The student-athlete is also suspended from all levels of participation (varsity, junior varsity) the same number of contest(s) in the sport involved.

   If the student is finishing the highest ending grade in his/her school and cannot fulfill all of the disciplinary action due to the completion of the season, he/she will fulfill the action in the next sport in which they participate.

7. Add the Following as F to Article III, Section 7 and as F in Article III, Section 9 of the TSSAA Bylaws

   In all situations where ejections occur for unsportsmanlike conduct, the individual will be removed from the next contest(s) following the one in which the ejection occurred.

8. Add the Following as G to Rule 11-I of the TMSAA Bylaws

   In all situations where ejections occur for unsportsmanlike conduct, the individual will be removed from the next contest(s) following the one in which the ejection occurred.

4. New Business

1. Proposal to Add Three Days of Practice for Volleyball at the Conclusion of the Year
2. Proposal for a Change in the Transfer Rule
   Proposal from Page High School requesting a change in the transfer rule to allow students to transfer from tuition paying schools to non-tuition paying schools without loss of eligibility.
3. Proposal for Change in Article II, Section 16 (#2) of the TSSAA Bylaws
   The Division II Committee is recommending that the following change (change in bold) be made in Article II, Section 16(#2):

   Financial aid may be awarded on the basis of need, but proof of such need must be filed in the TSSAA office on forms approved by the Executive Director. In order to determine the basis for need, all schools shall use the School and Student Scholastic Service for Financial Aid (SSS) of Princeton, New Jersey, FACTS Grant and Aid Assessment (FACTS), or Financial Aid For School Tuition (FAST). A committee consisting of School Heads from Division II schools and one ex-officio, non-voting member from the Board of Control will meet and make recommendations to the Board of Control on each student submitted. In addition, this committee will collect information from schools regarding financial aid statistics, grant procedures, and the overall financial aid program within the school. The Board of Control will then rule on all cases at the August meeting. The Board of Control shall have authority to reject the basis for need for students when in its opinion, or the opinion of the school committee, the amount of need stated by School and Student Service for Financial Aid of Princeton, New Jersey, (SSS), FACTS Grant and Aid Assessment (FACTS), or Financial Aid for School Tuition (FAST) cannot be justified.

   Rationale: FACTS and FAST are both companies that are used by many non-public schools with their student bodies. When the Tuition and Financial Aid Rule was first written, SSS was the only company being used by schools. The Division II committee has done a very thorough job in looking at all of these issues. For the most part, the requirements are as strong, if not stronger, in determining the amount of money for which a student can qualify that is need-based. All schools would have to choose one of the three companies for all student-athletes.