Can a Home Education (Code 600) student play on a local sports team of an accredited funded school (not within our EICS school division)?
That question has one of two answers based on the grade level of the student…
Answer for Home Ed students in grades 1 to 9:
For home education students in grades 1-9, you may have difficulty with your efforts to convince a local public or separate school to allow your home education student to join the school’s sports team if you are homeschooling through a different school board. The reason for the school’s denial or at least reluctance to your request is the school’s liability for any injury that your child may sustain while participating in the sport. The school’s insurance covers only the students who are enrolled/notified in that school. The local school sometimes offers the option for your child to enroll in one course at the public school in order for your child to be officially and legally enrolled at the school, but… you have to be careful with that option and not enroll your child in the one course prior to Sept 29th. OK, getting into the details, you could work out a Shared Responsibility program with that school, but the details of that option are for another discussion.
Answer for Home Ed students in grades 10-12:
High school students have a better opportunity to join the sports team of a local public or separate school if the school, under which the home ed program operates, is a member of ASAA (asaa.ca), the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association. Member schools are obligated to accept students from other member schools…the insurance from ASAA covers all students who are enrolled/registered/notified at a member school. The school, under which THEE operates, is not a member of ASAA.
The only legitimate reason for a local school, who is a member of ASAA, to deny your request for your son or daughter to join the local athletic team is if adding your child to the team would force the team to have to transfer into a new (and more competitive) division. The reason for that (potential) transfer into a new division is based on the fact that the ASAA will add the home education student population, which lives in that school’s catchment, of your home education board to the student population of the local school. If the resulting sum of those two populations requires the school to transfer into a new athletic/school division (divisions are based on the school’s student population), then the local school can deny your request.
