A ruling by the Maine Principals’ Association has angered home-school parents who hoped their children would be allowed to play on private school sports teams.

The MPA, a nonprofit group that oversees school sports, established a policy in 1996 that allows home-schooled students to join only teams associated with their local public schools.

Last year the Legislature’s Education Committee urged a compromise between home-schoolers and the MPA.

But the association overwhelmingly rejected a new policy. Some who supported it say the vote was unfair, taken without their knowledge during the association’s annual meeting last month.

“They’re playing games,” said Paula Stotts, a Mechanic Falls home-school parent who has fought for a year for the rule change.

The rule wasn’t widely publicized or largely enforced until November 2002 when the MPA reminded each of its 150 member schools that the policy was in effect.

Many private schools quickly dismissed home-schoolers from their teams, fearing the MPA would deny them entry into tournaments or to force them to forfeit games if the students kept playing.

Last December, state Rep. Theodore Heidrich, R-Oxford, submitted a bill to change that. The Legislature’s Education Committee killed Heidrich’s bill in April. Members were concerned that reversing the MPA’s rule would be unfair to public-school athletes, since home-schoolers could choose to join top-notch private school teams but public school students could not.

The committee strongly urged the MPA and home-schoolers to reach a compromise that would give Maine’s 4,400 home schoolers more opportunities to play for private school teams.

Stotts and others thought they had done just that this fall when the MPA proposed a new policy.

Under it, home-schoolers could join some small private school teams if the school allowed home-school players and if the player’s parents provided a rationale for the request, according to MPA Assistant Executive Director Jeffrey D. Sturgis.

Last month, MPA members voted down the policy change 43 to 2.

Sturgis said the then upcoming vote was on the meeting’s agenda. Few advocates of the new policy showed up to vote on it.

“Most of the public schools did not like it,” he said. “They may have seen it as a way for kids to transfer.”

Stotts maintains many proponents of the new policy – mostly small private schools – didn’t know about the vote.

“They were all shocked and stunned. They didn’t have any prior warning,” she said.

Others heard a decision was coming up, but they had too much work to attend the all-day meeting.

“With smaller schools, it’s harder to leave when you’re a teaching principal or a very involved principal,” said Ron Giasson, principal of the 111-student Eastgate Christian Academy in New Gloucester.

He said he never expected such overwhelming opposition to the policy change.

“I thought it would have benefited both parties,” he said.

Stotts said she is looking into ways to get another bill submitted to the Legislature. It could take a year before any bill would be heard.

The MPA could consider another policy change, but like the last proposal, members would have to vote on it during their annual meeting. Another meeting won’t be held until next fall.

ltice@sunjournal.com

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