14 Del. Admin. Code § 1008-1.0 - Definitions, National Federation of State High School Associations, Conferences, Contracts, and Equivalency Rules

1.1 Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this regulation, shall have the following meaning:

"Administrative Head of School" means the chief or head individual in charge of the school traditionally referred to or generally known as the principal or headmaster.

"Attendance Zone" means the geographical area set by law or the governing body of a public school that entitles a student to attend a certain public school.

"Board" means the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Directors established pursuant to 14 Del.C. Chapter 3.

"Competition" means an event, contest, Scrimmage, or Play Day in which students or school teams compete either to determine a winner or for practice purposes.

"Department" means the Delaware Department of Education.

"Guardian" or "Legal Guardian" means an individual who legally has responsibility for the care and management of the student during the student's minority. The relationship is a legal one and must be created by a court order signed by a judge, commissioner, or master of a court of competent jurisdiction.

"Individualized Education Program" or "IEP" means a written statement for a child with a disability as defined in 14 DE Admin. Code 922.

"Legally in attendance" means present at school as determined by a pre-established written policy adopted by the local school board or governing body of the school.

"Member School" means a full or associate member school of the DIAA.

"Play Day" means a preseason event involving a series of Scrimmages held during the legal practice period for that sport season involving multiple Member Schools.

"Principal" or "Headmaster" means the Administrative Head of School and includes but is not limited to Head of School, Administrator, Executive Director, or Charter Head.

"Receiving School" means the school a student transfers to after leaving their previous school.

"Relative Caregiver" means an adult who by blood, marriage or adoption is the child's great grandparent, grandparent, step grandparent, great aunt, aunt, step aunt, great uncle, uncle, step uncle, stepparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, niece, nephew, first cousin or first cousin once removed but who does not have legal custody or legal guardianship of the student.

"School day" or "School days" means actual school attendance days during the regular academic school year including a partial day that students are in attendance at school for instructional purposes as adopted by the district or governing body of the school not to include weekends, holidays, summer school, etc.

"Scrimmage" means an informal competition between schools in which a final score is not kept, the time periods are permitted to be modified, the results of the competition are not reported to the media, the coaches are permitted to interrupt the play to provide instruction, and the competition is strictly for practice purposes.

"Sending School" means the school a student transfers from to go to a different school.

"State Board" means the State Board of Education pursuant to 14 Del.C. § 104.

"Student With a Disability" means a "child with a disability" as that term is defined in 14 DE Admin. Code 922 or a qualified person with a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

"Superintendent" means the chief school officer of a school district.

"Transfer" means the student has officially withdrawn from the sending school and has officially enrolled in the receiving school in accordance with the receiving school's established registration process.

1.2 National Federation of State High School Associations

1.2.1 DIAA is affiliated with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). The playing rules, codes of conduct, sanctions, and guidelines in the NFHS rules books are adopted except as modified by the Board.

1.2.1.1 The playing rules of the United States Tennis Association and the United States Golf Association are adopted for the sports of tennis and golf, respectively, except as modified by the Board.

1.2.1.2 In addition to the playing rules, codes of conduct, sanctions, and guidelines in the NFHS rules book, the playing rules of US Lacrosse are adopted for girls' lacrosse except as modified by the Board.

1.3 Conferences

1.3.1 Member Schools may establish voluntary conference organizations that may be composed of public and nonpublic schools. When established, a conference they must submit its proposed membership and its constitution and bylaws to the Board and be approved by the Board before the schools may enter into any contractual agreements.

1.3.1.1 All subsequent amendments to the constitution and bylaws of the conference must be compatible with all provisions of the DIAA Regulations; interpretations and rulings of the Executive Director, Sportsmanship Committee, and Board; state tournament regulations; and DIAA approved playing codes.

1.4 Contracts

1.4.1 Contracts between DIAA Member Schools and between DIAA Member Schools and full member schools of comparable state associations are encouraged but not required.

1.4.1.1 Conference master contracts are approved substitutes for individual contracts.

1.4.1.2 A signed individual contract or conference master contract shall be hand-delivered or mailed to the DIAA office. Without a signed individual contract or conference master contract that is delivered or postmarked prior to the date of the contest in question, a Member School has no right of appeal to the Executive Director or the Board as provided in subsection 1.4.4.

1.4.2 Contracts between DIAA Member Schools and nonmember or associate member schools of comparable state associations are required.

1.4.2.1 A copy of the signed contract must be either received by the Executive Director or postmarked prior to the contest for which the agreement was drawn up. Failure to file a signed contract as prescribed shall result in the DIAA Member School being assessed a $50.00 fine.

1.4.2.2 A Member School has no right of appeal to the Executive Director or the Board as provided in subsection 1.4.4 unless a signed individual contract is in place and is delivered or postmarked prior to the date of the contest in question.

1.4.3 Contracts shall be interchanged according to the following provisions:

1.4.3.1 Contracts on the accepted form shall be arranged by the competing schools for each season's interscholastic athletic contests.

1.4.3.2 Contracts shall be drawn up by the facility manager or other designated staff member of the home school of the earlier contest.

1.4.4 If a game is not played, it shall be considered a "no contest." Notwithstanding the above, if a signed individual contract or conference master contract was received in the DIAA office or postmarked prior to the contest in question and one of the participating schools breached the agreement, the non-breaching school may appeal for a forfeit to the Executive Director or the Board. If the Executive Director or Board finds a forfeit is appropriate, the no contest shall be replaced with the forfeit.

1.5 Equivalency Rules

1.5.1 A full Member School shall not participate in a Scrimmage or contest with an in-State middle school that is not a member in good standing of DIAA.

1.5.2 A full Member School shall not participate in a Scrimmage or contest with an associate or nonmember school of another state association unless the opposing school, as part of a written contract, certifies that its contestants are eligible under the rules of its home state association.

1.5.3 An associate Member School shall not participate in a Scrimmage or contest with an in-State school that is not a member in good standing of DIAA unless the opposing school complies with the conditions specified in subsection 1.5.2. However, the opposing school shall be exempt from those rules which DIAA has waived for its associate Member School.

1.5.4 Member Schools shall not participate in a practice, Scrimmage, or contest with a nonschool sponsored team.

1.5.5 Member Schools shall not participate in a practice, Scrimmage, or contest with a non-middle school team.

1.5.6 Member Schools shall not participate in a practice, Scrimmage, or contest with elementary, high school or college-aged students. This provision shall not apply to games played against the alumni or faculty of the school when the game is sponsored by school authorities.

1.5.7 All schools participating in a Scrimmage must consider the event to be a Scrimmage and cannot count the results as part of their regular season results. Teams are limited to three Scrimmages or Play Days total on three competition dates each season.

1.5.8 A school which participates in a game against an illegal opponent shall be required to forfeit the contest and be assessed a $500.00 fine.

Notes

14 Del. Admin. Code § 1008-1.0

11 DE Reg. 1639 (06/01/08)
15 DE Reg. 74 (07/01/11)
19 DE Reg. 743 (2/1/2016)
22 DE Reg. 395 (11/1/2018)
24 DE Reg. 539 (12/1/2020)
26 DE Reg. 183 (9/1/2022) (Final)