Pearland ISD trustees are expected to rule this month whether to allow non-enrolled students to join UIL teams or activities.
A new Texas law known as SB 401 is effective for the coming school year — and has shifted the default for home-schooled or non-enrolled students wanting to participate in UIL activities from having public school districts opt in to now requiring them to opt out. This means non-enrolled students will be permitted to join public school UIL activities unless school boards choose otherwise.
School districts must decide by Sept. 1 whether to allow non-enrolled students to participate in activities such as sports, drill team, academic contests or marching band.
Before the law, there was no need for action to prevent non-enrolled students from taking part, Superintendent Larry Berger said.
“After speaking with our fine arts director and our athletic director and surrounding districts, we would like to keep this that way,” he said. “We would like to make sure the only people involved in our activities are our students that are enrolled in Pearland ISD.”
There are arguments for and against allowing non-enrolled student participation, he said.
“What the coaches and directors push back on is they are only coming to after-school practices,” Berger said. “They’re not in the athletic class. They don’t come to any of the other activities or events that are associated with being part of the school culture or part of the program.”
