A rule that keeps some kids from competing Home-school students

Tracy Beman played with Kaneland High School's band this year in every performance.

Except for one.

Since she's a home-schooled student, Beman can practice and participate with the band in local performances, but she can't compete with her ensemble when it goes to the Illinois High School Association's yearly competition.

And as a percussionist, who often plays a part that no one else can fill in for, Beman's absence creates big problems for the band at competition time.

"They're missing a player," said Diane Beman, Tracy's mother. "It screws up the balance of the whole thing."

The IHSA rule, which was passed amid controversy in 2000, says students must be enrolled in at least 20 credit hours each week in the school district to be able to participate in IHSA events, meaning sports teams and band competitions.

Beman, who with the help of her husband teaches her seven children in their Sugar Grove home, disagrees strongly with the rule.

"In my opinion, this is discrimination," Beman said. "(Home-schooled students) should be given the equal rights to participate if they want to. Why does their education determine their eligibility?"

It is a vital question that the Kaneland school district is searching to answer. The school board recently discussed a need to create a policy on home-schooled students and their involvement in extracurricular activities. The aim isn't necessarily to make things more inclusive but to define on paper at what levels home-schooled students can participate.

While Beman and other parents who home-school their children allege discrimination, school officials - both in Kaneland and across the Tri-Cities - say district policies ensure priority to students who attend classes each day on campus. The policies also attempt to accommodate home-schooled students who often need to accentuate their education with activities like driver's education or band.

Kaneland High School Principal Dan Bertrand said as long as there's space in the classroom, home-schooled students are welcome to take these courses, which are difficult to simulate at home.

But when it comes to extracurricular activities, especially sports teams, home-schooled students traditionally have not been permitted to participate since that may mean a full-time student may not be able to participate.

Kaneland's band director, Maria Dripps-Paulson, said sports should be kept separate from music in the school's policy.

Without Tracy Beman and her brother John, who plays trumpet, the band loses out when the two students have to stay home for IHSA contests - the equivalent of sitting on the sidelines during a football game.

"They're being excluded from what our students feel like is a team effort," Dripps-Paulson said. "You don't get benched in band."

School board member Lisa Wiet said the district wants to work with home-school students and parents to see if there is a better way to integrate the children into after-school programs.

"We're trying to be as open and accommodating for our home-schoolers without hurting our own teams," Wiet said.

Wiet said the district's administration is looking at surrounding schools' policies to glean what makes a policy effective.

The Geneva and St. Charles school districts maintain strict policies with language that mirrors the IHSA rule, leaving little leeway for home-schooled students to participate in district programs.

Geneva Superintendent John Murphy says he knows of no home-school students involved at the high school level and says the district hasn't experienced any significant conflicts regarding home-schooled students.

The St. Charles school district revamped its own policy regarding home-schooled students just after the IHSA created its rule in 2000.

The policy states that home-schooled students may participate in extracurricular activities only if the student meets district and IHSA requirements, which means the student must attend 20 credit hours of school on campus each week, a Catch-22.

The Batavia school district maintains an unwritten policy that high school Associate Principal Dan McNeive says thrives on tradition between the district and home-schooled students.

McNeive said he estimates the district has about five or six home-schoolers who participate in district programs, two of whom are at the high school level.

"The parents are just looking to supplement what they have with what we offer here," McNeive said. "And it really hasn't caused a problem."

Problems arise, McNeive said, when students who are home- schooled try to get a diploma. But when the issue is participation in sports, they are not without options.

The Kane County Christian Home School Group, to which the Bemans and about 400 other families belong, are in the business of providing venues for home-schooled students who have been turned away by the districts.

Beman said the group offers a variety of sports competitions including soccer, swimming, baseball and gymnastics, allowing their children to experience what the district denies them.

And while it may seem Beman's children are missing out since they can't participate in the district's programs, she sees it in a different light.

"My child will be fine regardless of what the high school does, because I'll find another way for them to do it," Beman said. "But the high school is really the one that's losing out because these are really nice kids that could be quality people on their team."

IHSA: Districts looking to better define policy