Homeschool Athletes Now Allowed To Play Ball In Hillsborough

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Home school students are now officially allowed to participate in Hillsborough High School sports after the Board of Education approved an amended policy on Monday night. But not without opposition from some school board members.

The second and final reading of policy #2431 was passed with a 5 to 2 vote. Board members Jean Trujillo and Cynthia Nurse voted against the policy amendment.

The policy amendment was spurred after Homeschooled freshman Samuel Malone and his parents began advocating for his inclusion at recent school board meetings. Read More: Homeschool Athlete Wants A Chance To Play In Hillsborough

Trujillo listed a number of reasons she was against the amended policy including that homeschool students were not held to the same standards as high school seniors in the district in respect to having teachers, exams, attendance, behavior and more.

She also noted the inclusivity favor.

"By rejecting the academic portion of the school district they are not being inclusive. My concern is this becomes an al la cart in choosing of sports but not academics," said Trujillo.

Nurse who initially voted in favor of the first reading of the policy change said she had changed her mind over the inclusivity factor. Read More: Issues Raised Over Allowing Hillsborough Homeschooled Athletes To Play

Nurse reiterated Trujillo's question of " 'Are we a sports organization who offers academics or are we an academic institution that offers sports?' Which brought me back to inclusiveness."

"In choosing to homeschool a child you are not including them in our academic institution," said Nurse.

Trujillo also worried about changing a policy for one family.

"We are making a policy because one family came to the board to request this change. Whereas I believe our highest priority is the 7,200 students who are already in our district," said Trujillo.

Board member Jane Staats said that while one family came forward publicly she wondered how many more are being silent.

"Maybe this is serving other people who arent as persistent," said Staats.

Malone's parents Lynda and John who have spoken at several school board meetings advocating for a policy change for their son both thanked the Board for approving the amended policy.

"Changing this policy shows that Hillsborough is inclusive of diversity and that all children in our community should be given equal opportunities," said Lynda Malone.

See the full policy below:

Policy 2431 - Athletic Competition 2nd Rdg 02.27.23 by Alexis Tarrazi on Scribd

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