State lawmakers give Florida governorship control of FHSAA board

House Bill 225 passed through the House and Senate, now giving the governor control of appointing board members in the FHSAA

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Board of Directors will now be officially appointed by the state. 

On Wednesday of last week, House Bill 225 passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law at a press conference at Cambridge Christian Academy according to a press release by the FHSAA. In the bill includes giving the governor control over the FHSAA Board of Directors as well as the authority to appoint its members.

The state of Florida athletics is about to get even crazier! Wild Wild West! Hold on! pic.twitter.com/lpdaOxwUrv

— Greg Jordan (@GregJordan12) May 21, 2023

According to a report back in late March by the Tampa Bay Times’ Matt Baker, only three states giving as much control to the state as Florida will be, with Delaware, Kansas and Montana as the others. 

Below is the summary of approved changes made by the FHSAA on House Bill 225 passing. 

House Bill 225

House Bill 225

 1. Authorizes charter school students, non-member private school students, and FLVS Full-Time Public Program students to participate in extracurricular activities at a private school.

2. Authorizes traditional public-school students to participate at another public school in the same school district or may develop an agreement to participate at a private school in any sport/activity that is not offered by his/her traditional public school. the same school district or may develop an agreement to participate at a private school in any sport/activity that is not offered by his/her traditional public school.

3. Revises the requirements related to non-member private school students.

4. Authorizes a public-school student who is participating in a sport/activity and who transfers to another school, to continue participating in that sport/activity at his/her previous school through the remainder of that school year.

5. Authorizes any school which joins the FHSAA by sport to be eligible for the State Series in that sport.

6. Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to direct the FHSAA to revise its bylaws at any time.

7. Requires any changes made to the FHSAA bylaws to be ratified by the State Board of Education.

8. Removes the requirement that appointments to the Board of Directors reflect the demographic and population trends of Florida.

9. Revises the composition of the Board of Directors to include 13 members, 8 of which are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The remaining 4 members will be elected by member schools.

• Two (2) public school representatives appointed from different Administrative Sections

• Two (2) private school representatives appointed from different Administrative Sections

• Two (2) at-large representatives (one appointed from Administrative Sections 1 & 2; one appointed from Administrative Sections 3 & 4)

• One (1) Superintendent appointed from Administrative Section 1

• One (1) School Board appointed member from Administrative Section 4

• Commissioner of Education or his/her designee.

• Two (2) public school representatives elected from different Administrative Sections

• Two (2) private school representatives elected from different Administrative Sections

10. Requires the hiring of the Executive Director and the budget adopted by the Board of Directors to be ratified by the State Board of Education.

11. Reduces authority of the FHSAA Representative Assembly to an advisory committee which will now make legislative recommendations to the Board of Directors.

12. Requires the FHSAA to allow participating schools to make open remarks over the PA system at FHSAA State Championship Series events.

Under the bill, the board will be reduced to eight members, all chosen by the governor, plus the education commissioner being the ninth selection. 

READ: State lawmakers propose giving Florida governor Ron DeSantis control of FHSAA board

Another controversial element of the bill is that it would permit “opening remarks” before state championship series events begin. The FHSAA could not "control, monitor, or review" the opening remarks, which could include things such as prayer, or the choice of speaker. Schools, however, would be required to read a disclaimer stating that the remarks "are not endorsed by and do not reflect the views and opinions of the athletic association.”

A new rule now in place is student-athletes can attend a public school and attend another public school within the same district to play a sport his or her school does not offer. It also made mention of the student-athlete could also come to an agreement to play sports at a private school to play a sport/activity not offered by his or her home school. 

The FHSAA is currently a private non-profit organization which oversees sports for grades 6 through 12 for its member schools, which include all of the state's public schools and other institutions which choose to join. Previously, 15 of the 16 board positions were selected by schools in four regions of the state while the 16th spot is reserved for the state education commissioner or their designee.

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.