Senate File 2212 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2212 BY PIKE A BILL FOR An Act relating to interscholastic athletic scrimmages between 1 schools and nonaccredited home school sports organizations, 2 and including effective date provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 6036XS (3) 91 mb/jh

S.F. 2212 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 280.37 Nonaccredited home school 1 sports organization scrimmages. 2 1. For purposes of this section: 3 a. “Nonaccredited home school sports organization” means 4 a team, club, cooperative, or group organized primarily for 5 students receiving competent private instruction or independent 6 private instruction under chapter 299A, or for students 7 receiving instruction in nonaccredited nonpublic settings that 8 are not a member or associate member of an organization. 9 b. “Organization” means the same as defined in section 10 280.13. 11 c. “School” means a public school district or accredited 12 nonpublic school that is a member or associate member of an 13 organization. 14 d. “Scrimmage” means a noncompetitive, practice-oriented 15 interscholastic event between teams that simulates game 16 conditions solely for the purpose of evaluating and developing 17 team strategies, individual skills, and conditioning. 18 2. Notwithstanding any rule, bylaw, policy, or regulation 19 of an organization, a school may participate in a scrimmage 20 against a nonaccredited home school sports organization in any 21 sport offered by the school. 22 3. a. A scrimmage under this section requires a prior 23 agreement in writing between the school district superintendent 24 or designee of the accredited nonpublic school and a duly 25 authorized representative of the nonaccredited home school 26 sports organization. The agreement shall be retained by the 27 school and nonaccredited home school sports organization for 28 one year following the scrimmage. The agreement shall include 29 all of the following: 30 (1) The date, time, location, duration, and format of the 31 scrimmage. 32 (2) Safety protocols, including concussion management and 33 emergency procedures. 34 (3) Any other conditions determined to be necessary by 35 -1- LSB 6036XS (3) 91 mb/jh 1/ 4

S.F. 2212 either party. 1 b. Each school and nonaccredited home school sports 2 organization shall ensure appropriate liability coverage and 3 assume responsibility for its own participants in a scrimmage 4 under this section. A school or nonaccredited home school 5 sports organization shall not be liable for injuries resulting 6 from a scrimmage except as provided by law or in the written 7 agreement. 8 4. Students participating in a scrimmage on behalf of 9 a nonaccredited home school sports organization under this 10 section shall not be subject to the eligibility rules of an 11 organization. 12 5. A scrimmage under this section shall: 13 a. Not count as a regular season contest or affect win-loss 14 records, standings, rankings, or postseason eligibility. 15 b. Not involve official scorekeeping for public announcement 16 or record purposes. 17 c. Not charge admission to spectators. 18 d. Not use public address announcements for play-by-play 19 commentary. 20 e. Be limited in duration and intensity consistent with 21 preseason or in-season practice rules of the sport, as 22 established by the national federation of state high school 23 associations or another applicable association. 24 f. Occur at a facility owned or controlled by one of the 25 teams or at a neutral facility agreed upon by the teams. 26 g. Officials shall not be compensated unless agreed upon by 27 the teams solely for training or instructional purposes. 28 h. Be voluntary for all participants. 29 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect July 1, 2027. 30 EXPLANATION 31 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 32 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 33 This bill relates to interscholastic athletic scrimmages 34 between schools and nonaccredited home school sports 35 -2- LSB 6036XS (3) 91 mb/jh 2/ 4

S.F. 2212 organizations. 1 The bill allows public schools and accredited nonpublic 2 schools that are members or associate members of an 3 organization as defined in Code section 280.13 to participate 4 in interscholastic athletic scrimmages with nonaccredited home 5 school sports organizations. 6 The bill defines “nonaccredited home school sports 7 organization” as team, club, cooperative, or group organized 8 primarily for students receiving competent private instruction 9 or independent private instruction under Code chapter 299A, 10 or for students receiving instruction in nonaccredited, 11 nonpublic settings that are not a member or associate member 12 of an organization as defined in Code section 280.13. Under 13 Code section 280.13, an organization is a corporation, 14 association, or organization that has as one of its primary 15 purposes the sponsoring or administration of extracurricular 16 interscholastic athletic contests or competitions. The bill 17 defines “scrimmage” as a noncompetitive, practice-oriented 18 interscholastic event between teams that simulates game 19 conditions solely for the purpose of evaluating and developing 20 team strategies, individual skills, and conditioning. 21 The bill requires a written agreement between the school 22 and nonaccredited home school sports organization be executed 23 prior to the scrimmage. The agreement must contain the date, 24 time, location, duration, and format of the scrimmage, safety 25 protocols, and other conditions deemed necessary by either 26 party. The agreement must be retained by each party for one 27 year following the scrimmage. 28 The bill provides that each school and nonaccredited home 29 school sports organization shall ensure appropriate liability 30 coverage and assume responsibility for its own participants in 31 a scrimmage. Students participating in a scrimmage on behalf 32 of a nonaccredited home school sports organization are not 33 subject to the eligibility rules of an organization. 34 Lastly, the bill requires that scrimmages do not count 35 -3- LSB 6036XS (3) 91 mb/jh 3/ 4

S.F. 2212 toward regular season records, standings, rankings, or 1 postseason eligibility, must be voluntary, limited in duration 2 and intensity, occur at certain facilities, and may not 3 involve official scorekeeping, charging admission, play-by-play 4 announcements, or pay for officials. 5 The bill takes effect July 1, 2027. 6 -4- LSB 6036XS (3) 91 mb/jh 4/ 4