Kansas high school sports modifier rule to be proposed to state Senate committee

A proposal to allow Kansas high school athletics to adopt a modifier or multiplier rule will be presented to the state Senate education committee on Monday.

Paola High athletics director Jeff Hines and Girard Middle School principal Randy Heatherly will request that the committee in Topeka consider Senate Bill 145, which would strike a law that requires the state to classify its high schools athletics participation strictly according to student attendance.

The movement for a modifier or multiplier rule has been a longstanding battle for Hines, who presented a similar bill to the Senate last spring but was unsuccessful in getting it passed.

This time, he will tote evidence in the form of a survey showing significant support for the measure from high schools across the state.

“I think I’m more optimistic because we’re taking a different approach,” Hines said. “Randy and I can go in there saying we know 230 schools support change. That’s why we’re here.”

The session Monday is expected to last an hour and be informational in nature. The committee will have the option of scheduling follow-up hearings.

Under a multiplier rule, the enrollments of each private school would be multiplied by a pre-determined number, which is the system used in Missouri. With a success modifier rule, such an adjustment would be made based solely on the success of each sports program within the school.

The adoption of either would require a change to state law and approval from the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA).

In response to Hines’ similar submission last spring, the Kansas Senate told him that it would not reverse the state law without first receiving an endorsement from KSHSAA. The law currently reads that KSHSAA must “establish a system for the classification of member high schools according to student attendance.”

Last month, Hines and Heatherly made a presentation to the KSHSAA executive board in an effort to secure that approval. They included the survey, which showed better than 80 percent support for a modifier or multiplier rule from the state’s high schools, with an 80-percent response rate.

After listening to the presentation in January, the KSHSAA executive board later issued a statement expressing “no opposition” to the measure to revise the Kansas state law. Hines said he has been told the KSHSAA executive board will not move its stance toward a full-fledged endorsement.

KSHSAA executive director Gary Musselman is expected to speak at Monday’s hearing.

“If KSHSAA won’t say it, we will — their schools want change,” Hines said.

If the Senate approves the measure to change state law, the project would still require approval from the KSHSAA board of directors, which meets in April. If it passes that hurdle, the measure would be submitted for a vote from the member schools.

Hines said he plans to write a proposal seeking a modifier rule rather than a multiplier.

More than a year ago, KSHSAA established a committee to dissect the best approach to classification. The committee’s suggestions were approved by the executive board last month, but those plans did not include any form of a multiplier or modifier rule.

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Kansas high school sports modifier rule to be proposed to state Senate committee."