Phillipsburg
fights state rule on school sports
teams
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 • BY REBECCA
SCHMOYER • Star-Ledger Staff
The Phillipsburg School District is appealing to the
state that its sports teams should not be subject to a
NJSIAA rule requiring teams play 70 percent of their games
in New Jersey to qualify for a state championship.
"We've reached the stage of appealing the decision to
the state commissioner of education's office," George M.
Chando, the district's director of secondary education, said
yesterday.
The district asked the NJSIAA for a waiver of the "70
percent rule" last fall. That request was denied in
November. On Jan. 12, the district's appeal of the decision
was rejected by a vote of 32-0 from the executive committee
of the NJSIAA.
"We think the committee got it wrong in this particular
case," said David Rubin, a Metuchen attorney who is
representing the district.
Rubin said he feels the "70 percent rule" was
established to prevent districts from having the unfair
advantage of recruiting out-of-state players and was not
intended to prevent a district on the border between New
Jersey and Pennsylvania from playing games in their own back
yard.
NJSIAA committee members said that while Phillipsburg's
location near the state border was clearly a hardship, other
schools must also travel long distances to compete in their
conferences.
Phillipsburg joined the Skylands Conference, made up of
teams from school districts in Warren, Hunterdon and
Somerset counties, in the fall of 1995.
However, Chando said commuting to play other teams in
the conference is costly and the excessive travel time is
taking a toll on the academic performance of players. The
district would like an opportunity to play rivals nearby in
the Pennsylvania-based Lehigh Valley Conference without
sacrificing its eligibility to compete for New Jersey state
championships.
"Our closest school we compete against in New Jersey is
a 30-minute drive away," said Chando. "That would be our
farthest competition if we were in the Pennsylvania
conference."
The decision to appeal to the commissioner was announced
at a school board meeting Monday night. However, Rubin said
paperwork for the appeal to the commissioner was already
submitted to the commissioner's office last year. Rubin said
he will meet with state officials to work out a timeline for
the review of the NJSIAA decision.
"We're hopeful we'll get a fresh look from the
commissioner and score some points at this level," said
Rubin.
Rebecca Schmoyer can be reached at
rschmoyer@starledger.com or (908) 475-1218.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
|