wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > SB 6116 > Original Bill

SB 6116 - Interscholastic athletics

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Section 1

  1. Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, interschool athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular activities of an athletic nature, including those administered by a school district board of directors under RCW 28A.600.200, must be organized using the following groupings for the purposes of participation and competition:

    1. Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who identify as a woman or girl;

    2. Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who identify as a man or boy;

    3. Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) who identify as a man or boy;

    4. Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) who identify as a woman or girl; and

    5. Students who do not meet the criteria in (a) through (d) of this subsection.

  2. For the purposes of this section, a student's eligibility for a particular grouping may be determined by any medical documentation that demonstrates the chromosomal makeup of the student.

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    1. Any student who is deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the school district.

    b. Any student who is subject to retaliation or other adverse action by a school, school district, or an athletic association or organization as a result of reporting a violation of this section to an employee or a representative of the school, school district, or athletic association or organization, or to any state or federal agency with oversight of schools or public postsecondary institutions in this state, has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the school, school district, or athletic association or organization.

    c. Any school district that suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the governmental entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization.

    d. A school district or a student of a school district that suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a public or private school, a school district, or other organization not structuring their athletics in alignment with this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the school, school district, or other organization.

    1. A civil action brought under this section must be initiated within two years after the alleged harm occurred. Students or school districts who prevail on a claim brought under this section are entitled to monetary damages, including for any psychological, emotional, or physical harm suffered, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, and any other appropriate relief.

  4. A governmental entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or an athletic association may not entertain a complaint, open an investigation, or take any other adverse action against any school district in this state for maintaining separate interscholastic athletic teams or sports for students based on the designations required under this section.

  5. The requirements of this section do not apply to interschool athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular activities of an athletic nature that consist primarily of students in grades kindergarten through six.

Section 2

Each school district board of directors is hereby granted and shall exercise the authority to control, supervise and regulate the conduct of interschool athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular activities of an athletic, cultural, social or recreational nature for students of the district, subject to the requirements provided in section 1 of this act. A board of directors may delegate control, supervision and regulation of any such activity to the Washington interscholastic activities association or any other voluntary nonprofit entity and compensate such entity for services provided, subject to the following conditions:

  1. The voluntary nonprofit entity shall not discriminate in connection with employment or membership upon its governing board, or otherwise in connection with any function it performs, on the basis of race, creed, national origin, sex or marital status.

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    1. Any rules and policies adopted and applied by the voluntary nonprofit entity that governs student participation in any interschool activity shall be written; and

    2. Such rules and policies shall provide for notice of the reasons and a fair opportunity to contest such reasons prior to a final determination to reject a student's request to participate in or to continue in an interschool activity.

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    1. The association or other voluntary nonprofit entity is authorized to impose penalties for rules violations upon coaches, school district administrators, school administrators, and students, as appropriate, to punish the offending party or parties;

    2. No penalty may be imposed on a student or students unless the student or students knowingly violated the rules or unless a student gained a significant competitive advantage or materially disadvantaged another student through a rule violation;

    3. Any penalty that is imposed for rules violations must be proportional to the offense;

    4. Any decision resulting in a penalty shall be considered a decision of the school district conducting the activity in which the student seeks to participate or was participating and may be appealed pursuant to RCW 28A.600.205 and 28A.645.010 through 28A.645.030.

  4. The school districts, Washington interscholastic activities association districts, and leagues that participate in the interschool extracurricular activities shall not impose more severe penalties for rule violations than can be imposed by the rules of the association or the voluntary nonprofit entity.

  5. As used in this section and RCW 28A.600.205, "knowingly" means having actual knowledge of or acting with deliberate ignorance or reckless disregard for the prohibition involved.

Section 3

  1. Interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic activities and other interschool extracurricular activities of an athletic nature sponsored by an institution of higher education, including those established under the authority granted by RCW 28B.10.703, must be organized using the following groupings for the purposes of participation and competition:

    1. Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who identify as a woman or girl;

    2. Students who have the same kind of sex chromosome (xx) who identify as a man or boy;

    3. Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) who identify as a man or boy;

    4. Students who have two different kinds of sex chromosomes (xy) who identify as a woman or girl; and

    5. Students who do not meet the criteria in (a) through (d) of this subsection.

  2. For the purposes of this section, a student's eligibility for a particular grouping may be determined by any medical documentation that demonstrates the chromosomal makeup of the student.

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    1. Any student who is deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the institution of higher education.

    b. Any student who is subject to retaliation or other adverse action by an institution of higher education or an athletic association or organization as a result of reporting a violation of this section to an employee or a representative of the school, school district, or athletic association or organization, or to any state or federal agency with oversight of schools or institutions of higher education in this state, has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the institution of higher education or athletic association or organization.

    c. Any institution of higher education that suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the governmental entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or athletic association or organization.

    d. An institution of higher education or a student of an institution of higher education that suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a public or private postsecondary institution or other organization not structuring their athletics in alignment with this section has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law against the postsecondary institution or other organization.

    1. A civil action brought under this section must be initiated within two years after the alleged harm occurred. Students or institutions of higher education who prevail on a claim brought under this section are entitled to monetary damages, including for any psychological, emotional, or physical harm suffered, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, and any other appropriate relief.

  4. A governmental entity, licensing or accrediting organization, or an athletic association may not entertain a complaint, open an investigation, or take any other adverse action against any institution of higher education in this state for maintaining separate interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams or sports for students based on the designations required under this section.

Section 4

The governing boards of each of the state universities, the regional universities, The Evergreen State College, and community colleges in addition to their other duties prescribed by law shall have the power and authority to establish programs for intercollegiate athletic competition. Such competition may include participation as a member of an athletic conference or conferences, in accordance with conference rules. Programs created under this section are subject to the requirements provided in section 3 of this act.

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