Senate Bill 51 allows students in grades 6 through 12 to participate in sports or other extracurricular activities with certain restrictions.
MACON, Ga. – Home schooling for her children was the best option for Tara Baldwin.
“I thought I could give them a better education than the public school,” she said.
Baldwin says she lives in Crawford County and has two children who are currently in 11th grade.
“They have friends of public students, so it’s not that all public students are bad, just like the bullying that happens in public schools. They have a lot of inappropriate conversations and the like that homeschoolers are usually not around,” she said said.
She says that while her children aren’t interested in exercising themselves, she says they should have another option besides the Central Fellowship Academy.
“I would support the bill because I think parents should have a choice. I think it is up to the individual parent to make that choice as to whether it is worthwhile for them to bring them into this environment,” said Baldwin .
A bill in the Senate could make this a reality.
Senate Bill 51 allows students in grades 6 through 12 to participate in sports or other extracurricular activities as long as they take at least one online course offered by the local public school system.
Coach Spoon Risper of Westside High School says if he passes, that bill can only be added to his roster.
“I’m pretty sure there are kids out there who can play sports that are home-schooled,” said Risper.
Risper says he would be happy with the change, as long as the focus is on the kids competing at the school they’re zoned for.
“If a parent wants to teach their child at home, they have the right to do so, and I don’t think we should punish a child and not let them exercise if they live in this service area of the school,” he said.
The law was passed last week by the Senate Education and Youth Committee.
The next step is the debate throughout the Senate.
Comments are closed.