Joseph Bellino. Courtesy | Facebook

Bellino seeks to promote educational alternatives

Michigan homeschoolers would be allowed to participate in public school sports and other extracurriculars if a new bill becomes law.

Introduced on Sept. 26 by Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe, Senate Bill 589 would let homeschooling families paying local taxes participate in government-funded public school programs.

“Because of the way we fund education, these children should have an opportunity to play sports, even if they’re homeschooled,” Bellino said. “They’re paying for public schools, but they’re not getting any of the advantages at all.”

According to Bellino, who represents most of Hillsdale County, homeschooled students would be able to participate in the programs at their local public schools. The programs included are athletics, theater or drama productions, band, orchestra or other musical programs, and debate teams.

“With the way that my law is written, they can take a simple test to verify what grade they’re in, and then try out for the team, like everybody else does, and then play throughout the season,” Bellino said.

According to Republican Rep. Jennifer Wortz, who represents Hillsdale and Branch counties, the challenge with legislation like this is the private entity regulating public school athletics.

Public schools join the Michigan High School Athletic Association, which requires high school students to be enrolled in two-thirds of the public school course load. For middle school students, the requirement is one-half enrollment to be eligible to participate in the athletic programs. Homeschool families may have to choose between athletic programs or the personalized education homeschooling offers, Wortz said.

“As a former homeschool mom, I know that it becomes very difficult to spend time driving and going far distances for your kids to participate in athletics,” Wortz said. “It was one of the reasons we ended up putting our kids in high school in local public schools.”

Many states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania, allow homeschooled students to participate in public school athletic programs. Because the MHSAA governs school sports in Michigan, Wortz said the battle will begin with getting school district superintendents on board with the legislation.

“It’s going to take a mindset shift,” Wortz said. “The best thing we can continue to do is to promote that it’s really up to a parent to decide what’s best for their child. We all pay property taxes and contribute to our local schools. So why can’t our students have access?”

Hillsdale College freshman Avery May, a distance swimmer from Tennessee on the swim team, was homeschooled and able to swim for her local club team, which was affiliated with the local public school.

“It was an interesting dynamic, because I swam with a lot of people from my age group,” May said. “The experience of having a team I really liked, having relays with your friends, and competing for the school was obviously different because it wasn’t my school, but it was still so fun.”

May, whose family recently moved to North Carolina, said her younger siblings cannot participate in local public school athletic programs.

“We don’t want to register through the school, but my brother has to if he wants to play a sport,” May said. “He wanted to play football, but he can’t. With football, I don’t see how you could go to college and play football without playing for a high school team.”

May credited her ability to swim on the collegiate level to her time on the club team and said that it was invaluable for her family to stay homeschooled and play for their local schools.

According to Bellino, this bill was inspired by families in Hillsdale County, in hopes of providing opportunities for these homeschooled families and promoting homeschooling across the state, because the public school system is failing to equip students academically.

“Hillsdale County is the homeschool epicenter for the whole state,” Bellino said. “And with what has happened to public schools the last 50 years, people should be taken out and flogged, because we’ve let it get to such a bad spot.”

Send tips to the City News team: collegiancitynews@gmail.com