Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth asked Alabamians to send their “thoughts, suggestions, and experiences” regarding the Alabama High School Athletic Association to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor on Wednesday.
“The AHSAA’s decision to declare itself above the law is the symptom of a much bigger problem — a complete lack of accountability for its actions,” he wrote in the accompanying post.
Ainsworth said that comments should be sent to the [email protected] email address.
The organization responsible for overseeing and promoting sports at most Alabama high schools, the AHSAA is currently defending itself from a lawsuit over how it has responded to the implementation of the CHOOSE Act, the refundable tax credit program meant to help families pay for children to attend private schools, or support parents who choose to homeschool.
In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Governor Kay Ivey wrote that she is “in strong opposition to the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s decision to sideline CHOOSE Act participants from competing in school sports and am committed to seeing all Alabama students have a fair chance on the playing field.”
On September 4, Ainsworth claimed in a post to social media platform X.com that the AHSAA was “BREAKING THE LAW by denying eligibility to CHOOSE Act students” and said he’d “offer legislation to strip AHSAA of its power and give it to an entity that will follow the law.”
Shortly thereafter, the organization explained that since July 2024, they have considered the CHOOSE Act financial aid. “Under AHSAA rules, students receiving such aid are ineligible for athletic participation in their first year following a transfer,” they stated.
“A student that transfers to a member school and receives any financial aid or financial assistance shall remain ineligible at that school for one year,” the relevant portion of the 2025-26 AHSAA handbook declares. The handbook also includes a specific note that “Financial Aid/assistance includes Alabama Scholarship, tuition remission or reduction, School Choose Act funds, etc.”
“Early drafts of the CHOOSE Act explicitly protected AHSAA’s eligibility rules,” the AHSAA said. “However, the final version omits the word ‘rules,’ introducing ambiguity.”
The version of the bill signed by Ivey reads:
Nothing in this act shall affect or change the athletic eligibility of student athletes governed by the Alabama High School Athletic Association or similar association.
In defending its decision to treat the CHOOSE Act as financial aid, the AHSAA has pointed to the Feb. 27, 2024 discussion of the provision on the state House floor. “This is actually the language that we have in the Accountability Act,” one state legislator noted at the time.
A state program for low-income students passed in 2013, the Accountability Act is meant to provide financial assistance in order to help students transfer to “a nonfailing public or nonpublic school.”
The 2022-23 AHSAA handbook specifies that “if a student transfers and accepts financial assistance from the AAA, then it does [impact AHSAA transfer eligibility rules].” However, earlier editions of the handbook published after the AAA was signed into law simply point out the relevant clause in the law and say “a student may transfer from a failing school to a non-failing school within the same school system if LEA allows.”
The AHSAA board already decided against reversing the rule in an early September emergency session. Shortly after the lawsuit against the policy was filed though, a judge approved a temporary restraining order preventing them from enforcing the rule while the case is being heard.
A lawyer for the AHSAA, James Williams, emphasized in a statement to AL.com that the AHSAA has been “self-governed” for more than a century.
“The management of the affairs of the AHSAA is vested in a Legislative Council and a Central Board of Control. Through these governing bodies, the member schools write the rules for the AHSAA,” Williams stated. “This legislative process also allows the member schools to change their rules. However, once in effect, the member schools want and expect the AHSAA Executive Director and staff to enforce the rules as written which would include rules on eligibility.”
