Purpose .............................................................................................1
Email ............................................................................................................................................ 1
Responses ..........................................................................................1
1. Maine ...................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Nebraska ................................................................................................................................. 2
3. New Mexico ............................................................................................................................ 2
4. Maryland ................................................................................................................................. 3
5. Oklahoma ................................................................................................................................ 4
6. Nevada .................................................................................................................................... 6
7. Louisiana ................................................................................................................................. 6
Phone Conversations .........................................................................7
1. Tennessee ............................................................................................................................... 7
2. Missouri ................................................................................................................................... 7
Overall ...............................................................................................7

This document contains the response generated by an email submitted to other states with regards to athletic travel.
Greetings LESN members,
Heather Tackett, legislative analyst, in Arkansas is conducting research on states that have implemented policies regarding ‗Athletic Travel‘ during the course of the school week. She‘s specifically looking for statutory language, legislation or rules in place that limit the travel (by either time or distance) during the school week that a student would be allowed to travel to participate in any athletic program.
Please respond to her directly at tacketth@blr.arkansas.gov
if you have any questions about her research or information that would be helpful. Thanks in advance for an information you may be able to offer.
Heather‘s Contact Information:
Heather Tackett
Legislative Analyst
Bureau of Legislative Research
One Capitol Mall, Fifth Floor
Little Rock, AR 72201
Direct: 501-682-2135
Maine statutes do not address athletic travel. As a ―local control‖ state, local school boards have policymaking authority on matters related to interscholastic athletics. Most public school districts (and some private schools) also are members of the Maine Principals‘ Association which also establishes policies (that member schools must comply with) related to interscholastic athletics.
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Nebraska has no policies issued by state government regarding athletic travel. Regulation of high school athletics in Nebraska is governed by a private, non-profit organization known as the
Nebraska School Athletics Association (NSAA). There have been concerns raised, in large part by western Nebraska schools with larger student enrollments, due to the need to travel significant distances to play other schools of similar size. While that concern has been voiced to members of the Legislature, the issue has so far stayed within the realm of the NSAA. The
Legislature, in particular its Education Committee, has in the past been quite reluctant to go down the path of taking on a role in governing school activities.
Hope this helps. Good luck in your quest for information.
Second email: In recent years, we've had a few bills brought on behalf of a group unhappy with an NSAA decision. The closest our Legislature has come to involving itself in high school activities was a bill in 2010 that would have subjected the NSAA to state open meetings and public records requirements. The bill advanced from the Education Committee but failed to get support from the full Legislature. To my knowledge, the only state regulation we have in
Nebraska pertaining to school activities is found in rule, not statute, and it simply prohibits K-6 students from participating in interscholastic athletic contests (with limited exception) and limits the number of interscholastic activities that may be participated in by 7th and 8th graders.
Hope this helps, and again, best of luck.
In New Mexico, we don't have a statute that pertains to athletic travel during the "school week"; however, statute does permit 15 days of absences per semester for interscholastic extracurricular activities. Additionally, the New Mexico secretary of public education may "issue a waiver relating to the number of absences for participation in any state or national competition." I have attached the statute to this e-mail.
I hope this helps.
22-12-2.1. Interscholastic extracurricular activities; student participation.
A. A student shall have a 2.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, or its equivalent, either cumulatively or for the grading period immediately preceding participation, in order to be eligible to participate in any interscholastic extracurricular activity. For purposes of this section, "grading period" is a period of time not less than six weeks. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to special education students placed in class C and class D programs. B. No student shall be absent from school for school-sponsored interscholastic extracurricular activities in excess of fifteen days per semester, and no class may be missed in excess of fifteen times per semester.
C. The provisions of Subsections A and B of this section apply only to interscholastic extracurricular activities.
D. The state superintendent [secretary] may issue a waiver relating to the number of absences for participation in any state or national competition. The state superintendent shall develop a procedure for petitioning cumulative provision eligibility cases, similar to other eligibility situations.
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E. Student standards for participation in interscholastic extracurricular activities shall be applied beginning with a student's academic record in grade nine.
History: 1978 Comp., § 22-12-2.1, enacted by Laws 1986, ch. 33, § 27; 1987, ch. 305, § 1;
1988, ch. 20, § 1; 1993, ch. 27, § 1; 1997, ch. 239, § 1; 1997, ch. 245, § 1.
Bracketed material.
— The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.Laws 2004, ch. 25, § 27, provided that all references to the superintendent of public instruction shall be deemed references to the secretary of public education and all references to the former state board of education or state department of education shall be deemed references to the public education department. See 9-24-15 NMSA 1978.
The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, inserted "interscholastic" at the beginning of the section heading and throughout the section; in Subsection C, substituted "only to interscholastic" for "to all"; and in Subsection E, substituted "academic record in grade nine" for
"second semester of grade eight" at the end. Laws 1997, ch. 239, § 1 enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 1997, ch. 245, § 1.
See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.
The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, deleted "Effective with the 1986-87 school year," at the beginning of Subsections A and B and substituted "fifteen days" and "fifteen times" for "ten days" and "ten times" in Subsection B.
The 1988 amendment, effective May 18, 1988, deleted former Subsections C and D, regarding absences in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 school years, and redesignated former Subsections E to
G as present Subsections C to E, substituting "Subsections A and B" for "Subsections A through
D" in present Subsection C.
Maryland regulations that speak to athletic related travel say:
―Participation in the event is within the USA, does not result in loss of instructional time, and complies with the local school system policies and procedures for school – sponsored travel.‖
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Oklahoma has no statute or rule relating to distance or time traveled for athletic competitions.
However, the State Department of Education does have an administrative rule that limits the amount of days students miss class for extracurricular activities. I have pasted that below. I hope it helps.
Dawn Marks, Research analyst
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Title 210 - State Department of Education
Chapter 35 - Standards for Accreditation of Elementary, Middle Level, Secondary, and
Career and Technology Schools
Subchapter 17 - Co-Curricular and Extracurricular Programs
210:35-17-1. Purpose and scope
This Subchapter contains rules and regulations for the co-curricular and extracurricular programs which relate to, and are in addition to, the accreditation standards set forth in
Subchapters 1 through 13 of this Chapter.
[ Source: Added at 10 Ok Reg 4457, eff 8-5-93 (emergency); Added at 11 Ok Reg 1999, eff 5-26-94]
210:35-17-2. Co-curricular and extracurricular programs
(a) Co-curricular and extracurricular programs shall provide opportunities for developing leadership ability and stimulate active participation of all students in appropriate school organization and community activities according to their aptitudes and interests.
(b) Co-curricular and extracurricular programs shall be planned through the cooperative efforts of the teachers and students and shall be organized and administered so as to contribute to the educational objectives of the school.
(1) Students shall not participate in a particular activity more than one period during the regular school day.
(2) A member of the teaching staff shall be in charge of each activity. The sponsors shall be directly responsible to the principal or some person appointed by the administration to direct the activities of the school.
(3) The State Board of Education encourages all elementary, middle, junior high, and secondary students to be in attendance in their regularly scheduled classes so that maximum learning can occur. Educational programs are built on the foundation of continuity of instruction and participation in the classroom setting. Consistent classroom attendance can assist students toward development of strong work habits, responsibility and self-discipline. Since the educational merit of the co-curricular and extracurricular programs is recognized, the goal of the State Board of Education is to facilitate a balanced education for each student. It is with these goals and philosophy that the State Board of Education establishes the following attendance/activities regulations:
(A) It is the intent of the State Board of Education that the superintendent or elementary superintendent and local board of education annually review the scheduling of cocurricular and extracurricular activities so that minimal interruptions occur in the instructional program of a student. The Oklahoma Secondary Activities Association
(OSSAA) guidelines related to student eligibility to participate in extra-curricular activities, activity absences, number of games allowed, and length of season shall be applicable to all Oklahoma public schools and students.
(B) The maximum number of absences for activities, whether sponsored by the
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school or outside agency/organization, which removes any student from the classroom shall be ten for any one class period of each school year. Excluded from this number are state and national levels of school-sponsored contests. State and national contests are those for which a student must earn the right to compete. The criteria for earning the right to represent the school in any activity or contest must be submitted in writing by local school sponsors and approved by the local board of education.
(C) Each local board of education shall appoint, at the beginning of the school year, an Internal Activities Review Committee. This committee shall be responsible for reviewing and recommending any deviation of the activities policy to the local board of education. Any deviation from the ten days absence rule shall not exceed five days.
(D) Each school district shall be responsible for maintaining an addendum to the attendance records to verify the conditions within the school system that apply to regulation (3) (B) of this subsection.
(E) Procedures for filing complaints are:
(i) A signed written complaint must first be filed with the local board of education. If the complaint is not resolved at the local level then the complaint should be filed with the Accreditation Section of the State Department of Education. Upon receipt of the complaint the Accreditation Section shall appoint a monitoring team to make an on-site visit and file a written report to the State Board of Education and
Accreditation Section. This complaint must include a list of the name(s) of the student(s), date(s) and class(es) missed which exceed the regulation in (3) (B) of this subsection.
(ii) The school district shall provide to the monitoring team during the on-site visit the necessary records to verify or deny the violation as specified in the written complaint.
(iii) The monitoring team shall submit a written report to the superintendent or elementary superintendent and local board of education within 10 school days of the on-site visit.
(F) Upon the recommendation of the monitoring team the superintendent or elementary superintendent may be called to appear before the State Board of Education for determination of the appropriate action to be taken. In cases of flagrant violation state funds may be deducted/withheld from the school district.
[ Source: Added at 10 Ok Reg 4457, eff 8-5-93 (emergency); Added at 11 Ok Reg 1999, eff 5-26-94;
Amended at 25 Ok Reg 1509, eff 4-11-08 (emergency); Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1026, eff 5-11-09]
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This e-mail is in response to your inquiry about any State policy implemented to limit travel for students who participate in school sports. In fact, the Nevada Legislature has enacted legislation to facilitate this type of travel. Nevada is a state with two large urban areas, but the vast majority of the state is comprised of wide open spaces with rural schools in sparsely populated areas. Students attending the more geographically isolated schools must travel long distances to engage in sports competitions with other schools. To this end, the 2003 Nevada
Legislature enacted Senate Bill 59 (Chapter 489, Statutes of Nevada) , which allows for an alternative schedule if the total number of minutes of instruction is equal to or greater than programs consisting of 180 days. Essentially, this bill allowed schools in remote areas to have a 4-day school week in order to travel and participate in sports and other school activities.
The bill is codified in Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 388.090. Below are internet links to NRS
388.090 and S.B. 59:
NRS 388.090: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-388.html#NRS388Sec090 and
S.B. 59: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/72nd2003/Reports/history.cfm?ID=135 .
Local school districts may have varying ―athletic travel‖ policies. Please let me know if you have additional questions.
The handbook for school administrators adopted by the state board of elementary and secondary education includes some relevant provisions in Section 915 of Bulletin 741:
F. The Scholastic Rule of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) shall be adhered to by all high schools under its jurisdiction.
NOTE: See for reference the LHSAA Web site at www.lhsaa.org.
G. All athletic contests shall be scheduled after school hours.
1. When possible, no instructional time should be missed by student athletes when traveling to athletic events.
2. If teams are allowed to be released from school early to attend these events, released time should be kept to a minimum and the LHSAA's Regular Season Released-Time Plan must be followed when determining the released time to be used.
3. All class work missed by student athletes while attending athletic events must be made up as soon as possible in the same manner that would be required or other students.
AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:176.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education,
LR 31:1272 (June 2005).
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association has a handbook of rules governing interscholastic athletics. Just looking at the handbook on-line, it does not appear to limit travel, but it does regulate release time and has a table about release time related to distance to be traveled. Not sure how helpful this is. See this link. http://lhsaa.org/handbook/ then go to
Section 9.
You may want to contact the LHSAA directly.
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Tennessee did not have any restrictions regarding travel (by distance or number of days per week) of their students per the Tennessee Department of Education. Allow the Athletic
Association to set rules for student athletes.
Missouri did not have any restrictions regarding travel (by distance or number of days per week) of their students per the Missouri Department of Education. It was noted that some districts
(bordering) travel to Arkansas to play games (Basketball) during the week in order to limit travel.
It is a district level decision on game participation, and Missouri follows guidelines set in place by their Activities Association- per Roger (former Coach, Superintendent, educator for 30 years, and former board member of the Missouri State High School Activities Association, now employee of Missouri Department of Education).
It appears that the Legislature has not taken a stance in the athletic travel restriction of students, unless instructional time is lost.
Although traveling long distances does appear to be a problem for some states, still, regulations are set by Activities Associations , and travel decisions are made at the local ―District‖ level.
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