The UIL State Executive Committee has denied an appeal that would have restored Highland Park’s Class 5A Division II boys soccer championship.
Highland Park forfeited its state title on April 11, hours after defeating Liberty Hill 2-0, when HP officials discovered that their team had used an academically ineligible player in the game, and self-reported the violation to the UIL.
The parent of that player appealed the forfeiture in May. She argued that because the student was earning a grade of below 70 in precalculus, which is treated as an honors course and exempt from no pass no play under the Texas Education Code, it should also have been exempt in Highland Park.
Highland Park ISD uses its own standards to determine which courses to exempt from no pass and no play, and HP’s rules are stricter than the state’s minimum requirements. If school districts adopt stricter eligibility standards, those standards are enforced by the UIL.
The parent drew on letters from former state Senator Florence Shapiro and former member of the state House of Representatives Rob Eissler, who chaired legislative education committees when no pass no play was amended in 2007.
They stated that the Legislature was trying to achieve uniformity, and meant to limit districts’ discretion to impose stricter no pass no pay requirements than the state standard.
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“The UIL has inadvertently positioned itself as a policeman for exactly what the Legislature intended to prevent,” the parent told the UIL State Executive Committee in May. “A hodgepodge of local eligibility rules.”
The State Executive Committee unanimously rejected that argument on July 9.
Public school districts are encouraged to exceed the requirements of law and State Board of Education rules, State Executive Committee Chair Mike Motheral said.
“I was a superintendent in a high achieving school district, and we took that to heart,” said Motheral, who is a retired superintendent from Lubbock. “We took it to mean what it means, that we are encouraged to exceed the minimum.”
While the Texas Education Code requires districts to suspend students failing certain courses form participation in extracurricular activities, it is silent on whether districts have discretion to impose suspensions for additional courses, Motheral explained.
“I cannot imagine a scenario where local control being stripped from schools will enhance the education for our students,” he said. “That’s true for what’s inside the classroom, and what’s outside of it.”
The decision means that Liberty Hill will retain the Class 5A Division II boys state soccer title. The parent had asked that Liberty Hill and Highland Park share the championship.
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