Iowa Lawmakers Pass Bill Allowing Private School Students to Compete in Public School Athletics

Lawmakers in Iowa last week passed a bill requiring public schools to allow private school students to compete on their sports teams. The bill passed the Senate in a vote of 31-13 and the House in a vote of 66-33. It is now headed to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

According to the Des Moines Register, the bill grants “mandatory access to participate in public schools' sports programs if the student lives within the district or in a contiguous school district and if the private school has not offered that sport for the two previous years.”

The bill also includes an amendment that states the private school cannot participate if it already maintains a standing agreement for sports participation with another public school or charter school.

Related: Florida Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Expand Private School Student Participation in FHSAA Sports 

Parents of private school student-athletes will be required to pay any fees for the public school sports program, but those fees cannot be larger than the fees charged to public school students.

Despite passing both the House of Representatives and the Senate, opponents to the bill have been vocal. Senator Mike Zimmer said, “When you start going down this path that ‘I want my money so that I can send my student to a private school but then I want to turn around so that I can have access to everything else,’ it doesn’t work that way.”

On top of that, some lawmakers cited that many school districts have recently dissolved their public-private school student-athlete agreements. Others asked why the participation can’t go both ways, why can’t public school students opt to play on private school athletics teams. 

“You're already sending a bus, you already have your coaches, and I think sometimes we just lose sight that we look at everything through dollars and cents and not to the experience that these young athletes and the skills that they're going to gain for future productivity in their lives and problem-solving skills and also relationship skills that they're going to get being part of a team," Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink said.