School board: Homeschool students allowed to play sports

Apr. 3—Homeschool students in Haywood County will now be able to play sports in Haywood County public schools after the Haywood County Board of Education passed the policy 6-2 at the regularly scheduled board meeting on Monday, April 3.

The policy applies to middle and high school students and will go into effect starting with the 2023-24 school year.

Under the policy, homeschool students must enroll in half of their classes at the public school where they will play sports. For high school students, that would mean two out of four classes per semester.

While the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which governs high school sports, dictates that one of those two classes must be taken in person, Haywood County Schools' new policy requires that two classes must be taken in person.

Also, once dually enrolled, a homeschool student must maintain continuous dual enrollment the entire school year or be ineligible to play again for 265 days.