House panel to examine MSHSAA

A Missouri House committee will investigate the operations of the Missouri State High School Activities Association amid allegations by the Naylor School District that the association, which oversees high school athletics, unfairly penalizes school districts.

MSHSAA executive director Kerwin Urhahn said he will testify before the committee and seek to answer lawmakers' questions.

House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, chose state Rep. Gayle Kingery, R-Poplar Bluff, to head the special committee, which may have eight to 16 members.

"There have been innuendos of MSHSAA being heavy-handed and maybe not being fair," Kingery said Thursday.

In a written statement issued Thursday evening, Jetton said lawmakers will look at how MSHSAA is organized and "who exactly has oversight over that organization."

State Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, also will serve on the committee. Other members have yet to be named.

Cunningham said she and other lawmakers have heard reports of alleged MSHSAA "abuses" around the state.

Urhahn, who heads the Columbia, Mo.-based association, said he wants to hear the testimony of other witnesses. "It concerns me that people have issues with our association," he said. "I am not going to go over there with a closed mind."

Naylor superintendent Stephen Cookson has charged that association officials aren't consistent in handling complaints involving eligibility of student athletes. He said Thursday he'd like the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to oversee MSHSAA operations.

Schools, Cookson said, should play by the rules, "but if there is not consistency in applying those rules, there really is no fairness."

Cookson said MSHSAA punished the tiny Naylor School District last month over alleged eligibility violations of association bylaws while ignoring possible violations in the Bell City School District. Naylor officials filed a complaint against the Bell City School District on Feb. 6. Bell City officials have characterized Naylor's allegations as frivolous.

Among other things, Naylor alleges a Bell City High School boys basketball player was improperly enrolled and that several student athletes lived outside the district and didn't pay tuition in violation of MSHSAA rules.

Cookson repeatedly has said Naylor filed the complaint to demonstrate that MSHSAA hasn't policed member districts fairly.

Kingery said complaints from Naylor school officials and others have prompted lawmakers to act.

"Right now we are just going to investigate with the idea that we will make any necessary recommendations on how MSHSAA might conduct business," Kingery said. "We are not on a witch hunt or anything like that."

The committee could start holding hearings next month. While he would like the investigation to conclude by the session's end, it could extend into the summer, Kingery said.

Cookson welcomed the legislative investigation and said he plans to testify about Naylor's dealings with MSHSAA.

MSHSAA has more power than the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or school boards but isn't accountable to anyone, including state lawmakers, Cookson said.

"If MSHSAA is going to be the purveyor and protector of fairness to all students and schools, then consistency is a huge issue," he said. "How are you going to have any consistency if they are not accountable to anyone?"

mbliss@semissourian.com

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