Genesis Prep appeal successful

As you were, Genesis Prep.

The Idaho High School Activities Association Board of Control reversed its ruling from one year ago, voting 8-4 on Tuesday at a meeting in Fort Hall to allow F1 (international) students to play in the postseason.

The action is effective immediately, IHSAA executive director Ty Jones said.

In September 2017, at a meeting in Coeur d’Alene, the IHSAA board voted 11-3 to ban F1 students from playing in the postseason, starting with the 2018-19 school year. They could continue to play in the regular season, the IHSAA ruled.

“Our board always evaluates/re-evaluates the decisions and rules and regulations of the association,” Jones said. “We received some new information from the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) legal counsel that we did not have last year that we may want to look at the rule again.”

Genesis Prep, a 1A Division II school in Idaho’s smallest enrollment classification and located in Post Falls, sent a formal letter of appeal to the IHSAA this summer, requesting that F1 students be allowed to play in the regular season and postseason, as they had in years past. The board discussed the matter at its August meeting, and voted on it Tuesday.

“Though I was disappointed to see such a number of IHSAA board members vote to uphold an ill-advised ruling that targeted Idaho students based on where they come from, we are encouraged that the majority vote was to reaffirm these students’ civil rights, to be treated fairly and equally under the law and the IHSAA rulebook,” Genesis Prep principal Chris Finch said.

F1 students differ from exchange students in that F1 students can attend up to all four years of high school, while exchange students are typically here for only one year.

Genesis Prep has a few F-1 students on each of its rosters in boys basketball, girls basketball and volleyball.

Genesis Prep is one of the few schools in Idaho accredited to accept F1 students — most are small, private Christian schools. Only three larger, public schools — none from North Idaho — are accredited.

Finch said the other schools are also have athletes affected by the ruling.

But Genesis Prep has by far been the most successful — and most visible — school using F1 students.

In the three seasons their basketball programs have been sanctioned by the IHSAA, the Jaguars placed third at state in 2016, and won the state title each of the past two seasons.

Genesis Prep’s girls basketball team took third at state in 2017 and lost in the state championship game in February.

Genesis Prep is a member of the North Star League, competing with Kootenai, Lakeside, Mullan and Clark Fork for berths to state.

Genesis Prep’s letter of appeal stated, in part: “ ... singling out F1 students in the manner the rule does, prohibiting them from participating in district or state tournaments violates the Equal Protection clause of the US Constitution. The discussions leading up to the rule’s adoption show that it was enacted with the specific intent to address a perceived unfairness by other Association members. The impact of the rule is only on the F1 student athletes, which implicates their national origin. As such, they are a suspect class, subject to discrimination solely because of that suspect class.

“Moreover, Title VI specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin. The rule applies only to F1 students. The IHSAA, acting on behalf of member schools subject to these constraints, or on behalf of itself, have adopted a rule that clearly implicates national origin discrimination.”