Jones v. W. Va. State Bd. of Educ.

From Conservapedia

In Jones v. W. Va. State Bd. of Educ., 218 W. Va. 52 (2005), the West Virginia Supreme Court upheld by a narrow 3-2 margin this rule promulgated by the est Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (hereinafter "the WVSSAC"):

To be eligible for participation in interscholastic athletics, a student must be enrolled full-time in a member school as described in Rule 127-2-6 on or before the eleventh instructional day of the school year. Enrollment must be continuous after the student has officially enrolled in the school.

W. Va. C.S.R. § 127-2-3.1.

There is no accompanying statutory provision that expressly excludes home-schooled children from participation in interscholastic athletics. The Court held that the Legislature entrusted this decision to the WVSSAC. See Appalachian Power Co., 195 W. Va. 573, 589, 466 S.E.2d 424, 440 ("'in the absence of…[legislative] direction as to what elements are to be considered in promulgating…[a] rule, the presumption is that…[the Legislature] is entrusting the decision as to what to consider to the hands of the agency in deference to the agency expertise. "'(alteration in original) (quoting Kennedy v. Block, 606 F. Supp. 1397, 1403 (W.D.Va.1985), vacated on other grounds by 784 F.2d 1220 (4th Cir.1986)).