Task force says DIAA should be overhauled, proposes major changes to improve school sports

DOVER — Long viewed as a rather sluggish regulatory body often undermined by bureaucracy, the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association appears set to be streamlined in the hope of improving its efficiency.

A state government task force, which held the last of eight gatherings Monday at Legislative Hall, has concluded an eight-month study aimed at drastically improving the organization that regulates First State high school and middle school sports and those involved.

Among major changes proposed will be no longer needing rulings by the DIAA Board of Directors to be ratified by the State Board of Education, a hurdle that sometimes slowed down decision-making and delayed implementation.

The DIAA will remain under the auspices of the Delaware Department of Education, where it has been since 2002 after replacing the Delaware Secondary School Athletic Association. However, its executive director, presently an associate-level position within DOE, will be elevated to a director, thereby empowering him or her with greater authority.

In addition, the DIAA staff, which has long included three people, including a secretary, will double in size with three new positions overseeing finances, rules compliance and communications.

All recommendations must be approved by the Delaware General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Carney. Task force co-chair Sen. Nicole Poore, D-New Castle/Bear, has long taken a keen interest in high school athletics and has pushed for improvements while being critical of the DIAA.

Some of the proposed changes had also been recommended but never implemented after a 2019 review of the DIAA by the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee, including increasing staff, simplifying regulations and refining the board of directors.

"I think progress has been made for the first time in a long time," said task force member Amber Hickman-Taylor, a parent of a present high school athlete who played sports at Christiana herself, has coached at high schools and is now at the Greater Newark Boys and Girls Club. "It's very encouraging to see how many people care about student-athletes."

DIAA executive director David Baylor predicted the changes will "transform the DIAA in a very good way" by making it "more responsive and proactive."

In a draft of the task force report, Poore and co-chair Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, the speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives, wrote that the 22-member group had “broad consensus” on how the DIAA could be more effective.

“We have identified effective solutions to address the challenges that have stymied DIAA for many years,” it reads.

These are the highlights of the proposed changes:

Part of DOE but with more freedom

“The onerous nature of DIAA’s regulatory process,” the draft report read, “was frequently discussed as a major impediment to DIAA’s functionality.”

That was a reference to the multi-step method involving the executive director, DIAA board and, ultimately, the State Board of Education in having regulations approved.

“It was felt by the task force that the added step of requiring proposed regulations to be approved by the State Board of Education was unnecessary,” the draft report concluded.

Removing it allows the DIAA “to make changes to regulations with the speed and flexibility often needed in the regulation of interscholastic sports.”

However, it has been decided not to remove the DIAA from Delaware Department of Education oversight, even though it is one of the few such state athletic associations operating that way. In most states, the group regulating high school sports and conducting its championships is a nonprofit with connections to member schools.

Under the proposed revisions, the DIAA would remain under DOE but have more dexterity to operate on its own.

Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Holodick said the changes "allow us to move forward in a much more productive way."

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Waiver/transfer oversight altered

The often-arduous process of student-athletes seeking waivers of DIAA eligibility and transfer rules was viewed as particularly crucial in simplifying DIAA operations, the draft report saying it “has paralyzed the board of directors and dominated the attention of DIAA’s small staff, leading other issues to go unresolved.”

That process presently involves a temporary ruling by the executive director followed by the final approval or disapproval by the DIAA board of directors. Those hearings were viewed as sometimes being “overly invasive” of students’ privacy, the draft report read.

Proposed changes give final authority on waivers to the executive director without the need for board approval, though that decision may be appealed to a three-person group from the board of directors.

Downsized DIAA board

The DIAA board of directors was viewed, the draft report said, “as a central issue” because of its size, difficulty getting consistent involvement from its 20 members and burdensome duties.

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It will be shrunk to 15 voting members, plus two non-voting representatives from the University of Delaware and Delaware State University, and have some of its previous duties, such as waiver requests, handled by returning and additional DIAA staff.

Those 15 board members will be one principal from each county; a non-public head of school;  the president of the Delaware Chief School Officers Association; four athletic directors representing each county and a non-public school; a sports medicine professional; a mental or behavioral health specialist; an athletic trainer; and three public members.

DIAA personnel doubled

Adding three DIAA positions “will dramatically ease the overwhelming burden that has been placed on the current staff,” the draft noted. “The size of the staff hasn’t kept up with the changing dynamics and expansion of interscholastic sports in Delaware over the last 20 years.”

That includes the DIAA “taking over more direct control of [its] finances by having a dedicated staff member responsible for oversight and administration of revenues and expenses,” the draft report said.

Reviewing media rights

The DIAA has had an annual agreement since 2013 with the NFHS Network to stream high school sports events. But not all DIAA schools have taken part. As a result, the DIAA is considering other less expensive options including some school-based operations that would provide more widespread availability.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: State government task force proposes numerous changes to improve DIAA