Policy that bars students from varsity sports for 365 days after transferring between Cedar Rapids schools will be reviewed

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids school policy that requires students to sit out of varsity sports for 365 days if they transfer to a school outside their residency within the district is scheduled to be reviewed this fall.

The policy — Regulation 602.9 — will be up for discussion with the policy review committee in September, said Caitlin Wiedenheft, spokesperson for the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

Cedar Rapids’ policy is more stringent than the state’s law — House File 847 — which generally prohibits students who transfer from one school or school district to another from participating in varsity athletics for 90 school days. This is the policy followed by surrounding school districts, including Iowa City, College Community and Mount Vernon.

School districts are allowed to implement policies that are more strict than the state rule.

“Every district is allowed to go beyond the 90-day rule in place,” said Tom Keating, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association.

Local parent says rule ‘penalized’ her daughter

Deb Frese — mother to a rising junior at Kennedy High School — said the Cedar Rapids district’s policy kept her daughter from playing varsity soccer this past spring. Frese did not wish for her daughter’s name to be published.

Frese, who lives in the Jefferson High School attendance area, transferred her daughter from Xavier High School to Kennedy High for the 2022-23 school year. The Cedar Rapids school district granted Frese’s daughter an in-district permit for her to attend Kennedy High — instead of Jefferson — on April 27, 2022, according to a letter Frese shared with The Gazette.

Frese’s daughter was selected for the Kennedy High varsity girl’s soccer team but was informed by the coaching staff the next day that she would not be able to compete on the team because she received a permit to attend a school outside her attendance area. However, Frese’s daughter did qualify for and competed in varsity wrestling over the winter, an “oversight” on the part of the district, Frese said.

Frese, whose older child has been enrolled at Kennedy through an in-district permit for the school’s special education program, said parents are “trying to make the best choice they can for their kids.” That includes which school to send them to. She feels like her daughter was “penalized” for making the decision to attend Kennedy High.

A request for the district to appeal the decision was denied, Frese said. Her daughter will be eligible to compete at the varsity level beginning this fall.

“A lot has changed in our world and in our schools in 45 years” since the policy was first adopted, Frese said during a school board meeting April 10, where she addressed the school board during public comment.

Rule is intended to discourage transfers for athletics

Matt Thede, athletic director for the Mount Vernon Community School District, said the state’s 90-day law is intended to discourage students from transferring from one school to another just for its athletic programs.

Students who transfer to a new school outside of their residential area can still participate in practice and play on teams other than varsity during the 90-day period, Thede said.

The Cedar Rapids policy follows state rules when it comes to inter district transfers. If a student who lives outside the district boundaries transfers to a Cedar Rapids school, they are barred from varsity sports for only 90 days.

The Cedar Rapids district policy also states that athletic participation should not be a reason that families pursue an in-district permit so their student can attend a school outside their residential attendance area.

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