Brainerd School District Clarifies Activities Policy After Parents Raise Concerns

Brainerd area parents voiced grievances after a letter last month provided information about changes to participation in Brainerd Public Schools activities and programs. But the district says they are formalizing a current policy.

To comply with the Minnesota State High School League’s regulations, students enrolled outside the district cannot participate in school activities unless there is already a standing agreement in place for specific activities with another school. Superintendent Heidi Hahn explained that Policy 611, which has been in place since 1996, must be followed to ensure MSHSL eligibility and therefore not jeopardize a student’s or team’s ability to participate.

“We’ve just kind of had an open door policy, especially with the middle school athletics, so we started working with the state high school league,” explained Hahn. “They informed us that we really need to have some type of agreement in place in order to protect the eligibility of our students.”

Area legislators and parents raised concerns over this policy and a children’s eligibility to participate if they are homeschooled. Hahn reiterated that according to state statues, five or fewer students receiving instruction in a homeschool setting are still able to take part in district activities.

“The families who are saying, ‘my homeschool student can’t participate,’ that’s 100% inaccurate – they just need to make sure they meet the definition according to statue of a homeschool student, and we’ve always followed that guideline,” said Hahn. “If anything, I think there’s a lot of misinformation. Activities and athletics are really, really important to this community and I think it shined a light on how important they are to all students and families, whether the student is enrolled in Brainerd Public Schools or elsewhere.”

State Senator Justin Eichorn says he intends to introduce legislation that would close any loopholes that may exist statutorily. He says this would give students and families who fund these programs a chance to use them.