Ohio schools can request a move to Division I next season as OHSAA passes new rules

Ohio High School Athletic Association member schools passed all six proposed revisions to the OHSAA Constitution and Bylaws, executive director Doug Ute announced Thursday.

Each OHSAA member's high school principal casts one vote on each referendum item. All member high schools are required to submit a ballot.

What is the biggest change in the OHSAA referendums?

The biggest change is that Issue 1B allows schools to request to move up to Division I on a sport-by-sport basis for the upcoming season in that sport.

Schools have a June 3 deadline for the upcoming fall and winter seasons. The deadline for 2025 spring sports will be set later. Once the OHSAA knows how many schools request to move up to Division I, the OHSAA will determine if changes are needed to the previously announced divisional breakdowns and tournament representation.

That measure passed 560-217, with 38 abstentions.

“We are all interested to see how many schools request to move up to Division I,” Ute said in a press release. “With the expanded divisions in several sports, our goal is to have as close to 64 schools as possible in Divisions I and II, so we may have some adjusting to do in some sports if several Division II schools make the request to move up to Division I. We know that June 3 is a quick turn-around for our schools, but we will need to know their plans quickly to make changes to divisional assignments and representation, if needed.”

Who will represent Southwest Ohio on the OHSAA district athletic boards?

In addition to voting for the referendum issues, member schools voted for representatives to fill expiring positions on their respective OHSAA District Athletic Boards, with terms beginning Aug. 1, 2024.

Representing the Southwest District are Versailles athletic director Scott Broerman, National Trail AD Troy Ferguson and Arcanum Butler AD Matt Macy. Their terms expire July 31, 2030. All of the district board results can be found on the OHSAA.org website.

Here is a look at the other issues passed today.

What Ohio residency regulation changed in the May 16, 2024, referendum vote?

Issue 2B modified Bylaw 4-6-2. This modification absolves school administrators from enforcing the Residency Bylaw (i.e. ensuring the student has a parent living in Ohio) for a particular student once that student is subject to custody orders involving child protective services, social services or a similar state agency. It passed 761 to 39 (15 abstained).

OHSAA member schools defined the term 'school day'

Issue 3B modified Bylaw 4-4-3, modifying the definition of a school for scholastic eligibility. This addresses the transition of athletic eligibility between grading periods and amends the OHSAA’s definition of a school day to exclude calamity days (where a school is canceled due to weather or similar circumstances). It passed 719 to 73 (23 abstained).

How did OHSAA modify midseason transfer rules in 2024?

Issue 4B and 5B modify exceptions to Bylaw 4-7-3 regarding midseason transfers. Currently, two exceptions will allow a student to play the same sport for two different schools during the same season, but both exceptions require the schools to be at least 50 miles apart.

Issue 4B alters the second exception when a student transfers to a different school midseason due to the death or incarceration of the student’s parents or the intervention of Children’s Services or a similar government agency.

If such a situation transpires, the modification allows the OHSAA to restore full transfer eligibility at the new school even if it is less than 50 miles from the former school.

The new language waiving the midseason 50-mile requirement does not apply to “standard” custody transfers (without children's services intervention). It passed 745 to 58 (12 abstained).

Issue 5B allows for midseason transfer students to be fully eligible at a new school in the same season at the sub-varsity level only, provided that the student meets the requirements of a transfer exception to restore full eligibility. It passed 562 to 229 (24 abstained).

How does the 2024 OHSAA referendum vote affect contests with out-of-state schools?

Issue 6B modifies Bylaws 9-2-1 and 9-2-2. It allows schools to travel to bordering states an unlimited number of times strictly to practice without prior approval from the OHSAA or travel to a non-bordering state for practice purposes only one time per sports season with prior OHSAA approval. Previously, teams were only allowed to practice if they were also participating in a contest during that trip. It passed 692 to 86 (37 abstained).

More information about this year’s referendum issues and complete voting results are available at https://www.ohsaa.org/School-Resources/referendum-voting.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: OHSAA says fall and winter teams can ask to move to Division I