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SF446 • 2026

A bill for an act implementing requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee.(Formerly SF 265 .)

A bill for an act implementing requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee.(Formerly SF 265 .)

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Last action
2025-03-25
Official status
Withdrawn. S.J. 626 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act implementing requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee.(Formerly SF 265 .)

A bill for an act implementing requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee.(Formerly SF 265 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act implementing requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee.(Formerly SF 265 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-25 Iowa Legislature

    Withdrawn. S.J. 626 .

  2. 2025-03-25 Iowa Legislature

    HF 783 substituted. S.J. 625 .

  3. 2025-03-25 Iowa Legislature

    Amendment S-3039 adopted. S.J. 625 .

  4. 2025-03-24 Iowa Legislature

    Amendment S-3039 filed. S.J. 622 .

  5. 2025-03-17 Iowa Legislature

    Attached to HF 783 . S.J. 541 .

  6. 2025-02-26 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 369 .

  7. 2025-02-26 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 364 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act implementing requirements related to organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the creation of a conference realignment committee.(Formerly SF 265 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

446

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

446

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SF

265)

(COMPANION

TO

HF

331

BY

BERGAN)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

implementing

requirements

related

to

organizations

1

that

sponsor

or

administer

extracurricular

interscholastic

2

athletics,

including

the

creation

of

a

conference

3

realignment

committee.

4

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

5

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446

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

280.13D

Realignment

of

high

school

1

athletics

conferences

——

committee

approval.

2

1.

For

purposes

of

this

section:

3

a.

“Extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics”

means

a

4

contest

or

competition

for

sports

between

different

school

5

districts

or

accredited

nonpublic

schools

and

outside

the

6

regular

scope

of

a

school

district’s

or

accredited

nonpublic

7

school’s

curriculum.

8

b.

“Organization”

means

the

Iowa

high

school

athletic

9

association

or

its

successor

organization,

and

the

Iowa

girls

10

high

school

athletic

union

or

its

successor

organization.

11

2.

On

or

after

July

1,

2025,

a

school

district

shall

not

12

expend

any

moneys,

and

an

accredited

nonpublic

school

shall

13

not

expend

any

moneys

originating

from

the

state,

to

pay

14

dues

or

membership

fees

to

an

organization,

and

the

school

15

district

or

accredited

nonpublic

school

shall

not

be

a

member

16

of,

participate

in

activities

associated

with,

or

receive

17

services

from

an

organization

unless

the

organization,

for

each

18

school

year

beginning

on

or

after

July

1,

2025,

develops

and

19

implements

a

policy

that

does

all

of

the

following:

20

a.

(1)

Establishes,

in

combination

with

the

other

21

organization,

a

committee

known

as

the

conference

realignment

22

committee.

The

conference

realignment

committee

shall

do

all

23

of

the

following:

24

(a)

Take

action

to

bring

about

a

reasonable

conference

25

affiliation

and

relationship

for

high

schools

that

are

26

members

of

organizations.

Reasonable

conference

affiliation

27

and

relationship

with

member

high

schools

may

include

28

total

movement

of

member

schools,

sport-specific

relief,

or

29

scheduling

assistance.

When

taking

action

to

bring

about

30

a

reasonable

conference

affiliation

and

relationship

for

31

member

high

schools,

the

committee

shall

consider

all

of

the

32

following:

33

(i)

The

current

total

enrollment

of

the

member

high

schools

34

and

the

projected

total

enrollment

of

the

member

high

schools

35

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446

in

the

future.

1

(ii)

Travel

distances

between

member

high

schools.

2

(iii)

The

comparability

of

instructional

programs

provided

3

by

member

high

schools.

4

(iv)

Traditional

rivalries.

5

(v)

The

number

of

member

high

schools

currently

in

the

6

conference

and

the

number

of

high

schools

that

may

be

added

to

7

the

conference.

8

(vi)

The

comparability

of

athletic

programs

and

other

9

school-sponsored

programs

provided

by

the

member

high

schools.

10

(b)

Review

all

requests

that

are

submitted

to

the

11

committee

by

school

districts

and

accredited

nonpublic

schools

12

that

are

members

of

an

organization

related

to

changing

13

the

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

conferences

14

the

school

belongs

to,

including

moving

a

member

school

15

to

a

different

conference.

A

request

submitted

under

this

16

subparagraph

division

must

contain

an

analysis

of

how

the

17

change

will

affect

the

school

district

or

accredited

nonpublic

18

school

submitting

the

request

along

with

how

the

change

may

19

affect

other

school

districts

and

accredited

nonpublic

schools

20

that

are

members

of

the

organization.

21

(c)

When

determining

whether

to

approve

or

reject

the

22

request,

the

committee

shall

consider

the

factors

described

23

in

subparagraph

division

(a)

and

how

to

best

bring

about

24

reasonable

interscholastic

athletics

conferences

that

25

are

beneficial

to

students

enrolled

in

school

districts

26

and

accredited

nonpublic

schools

that

are

members

of

the

27

organization.

After

making

a

decision,

the

committee

shall

28

provide

a

copy

of

the

request

and

the

committee’s

decision

to

29

the

applicable

organization

and

order

the

organization

to

take

30

all

actions

necessary

to

effectuate

the

committee’s

decision.

31

If

the

committee’s

decision

rejects

the

school

district’s

or

32

accredited

nonpublic

school’s

request,

the

committee

shall

33

recommend

an

alternative

conference

alignment

or

allow

the

34

school

district

or

accredited

nonpublic

school

to

opt

for

35

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446

independent

status.

1

(d)

Develop

an

expedited

review

process

for

requests

to

2

change

an

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

conference

3

membership

that

are

submitted

to

the

committee

by

all

school

4

districts

and

accredited

nonpublic

schools

that

may

be

affected

5

by

the

change.

The

expedited

review

process

must

require

the

6

committee

to

provide

a

copy

of

the

requests

received

under

7

this

subparagraph

division

to

the

applicable

organization

and

8

to

direct

the

applicable

organization

to

take

all

actions

9

necessary

to

effectuate

the

committee’s

decision.

10

(e)

Review

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

11

conference

changes

at

least

once

every

two

years.

12

(f)

Allow

a

school

district

or

an

accredited

nonpublic

13

school

to

appeal

orders

issued

by

the

committee

to

the

director

14

of

the

department

of

education.

15

(2)

(a)

The

conference

realignment

committee

shall

consist

16

of

eighteen

members,

subject

to

the

following

requirements:

17

(i)

Nine

members

shall

be

superintendents

employed

by

18

school

districts

or

accredited

nonpublic

schools

located

in

19

different

geographical

regions

of

the

state.

20

(ii)

Nine

members

shall

be

activities

directors

employed

21

by

school

districts

or

accredited

nonpublic

schools

located

in

22

different

geographical

regions

of

the

state.

23

(b)

A

quorum

of

the

committee

shall

consist

of

ten

members.

24

The

members

of

the

committee

shall

elect

a

chairperson

of

the

25

committee.

26

(c)

Each

organization

shall

appoint

nine

members

to

the

27

committee

pursuant

to

a

process

established

by

the

state

board

28

of

education

by

rule.

29

b.

Prohibits

the

organization

from

changing

membership

30

of

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

conferences,

31

including

moving

a

member

school

to

a

different

conference,

32

unless

the

conference

realignment

committee

ordered

the

33

organization

to

make

such

change

pursuant

to

paragraph

“a”

,

34

subparagraph

(1),

subparagraph

division

(c)

or

(d).

35

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c.

Requires

the

organization

to

develop

an

expedited

review

1

and

implementation

process

for

orders

received

pursuant

to

2

paragraph

“a”

,

subparagraph

(1),

subparagraph

division

(d).

3

d.

Requires

that,

in

order

for

a

school

district

4

or

accredited

nonpublic

school

to

be

included

in

any

5

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

conference,

the

6

school

must

offer

at

least

one

extracurricular

interscholastic

7

athletics

activity

for

boys

and

at

least

one

extracurricular

8

interscholastic

athletics

activity

for

girls

in

the

fall,

9

winter,

spring,

and

summer.

Schools

that

are

not

coeducational

10

must

offer

at

least

one

extracurricular

interscholastic

11

athletics

activity

for

boys

or

girls,

as

applicable,

in

the

12

fall,

winter,

spring,

and

summer.

13

e.

Prohibits

a

member

school

district

or

accredited

14

nonpublic

school

that

withdraws

from

an

extracurricular

15

interscholastic

athletics

conference,

without

approval,

from

16

doing

any

of

the

following:

17

(1)

Competing

in

the

same

extracurricular

interscholastic

18

athletics

activity

in

any

conference

for

the

two

years

19

immediately

subsequent

to

the

date

the

member

school

district

20

or

accredited

nonpublic

school

withdrew.

21

(2)

Competing

in

a

tournament

sponsored

by

an

organization

22

in

the

same

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

activity

23

for

the

two

years

immediately

subsequent

to

the

date

the

member

24

school

district

or

accredited

nonpublic

school

withdrew.

25

3.

The

state

board

of

education

shall

adopt

rules

pursuant

26

to

chapter

17A

to

administer

this

section.

27

EXPLANATION

28

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

29

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

30

This

bill

implements

requirements

related

to

organizations

31

that

sponsor

or

administer

extracurricular

interscholastic

32

athletics,

including

the

creation

of

a

conference

realignment

33

committee.

34

The

bill

defines

“extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics”

35

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446

as

a

contest

or

competition

for

sports

between

different

1

school

districts

or

accredited

nonpublic

schools

and

outside

2

the

regular

scope

of

a

school

district’s

or

accredited

3

nonpublic

school’s

curriculum.

Additionally,

the

bill

defines

4

“organization”

as

the

Iowa

high

school

athletics

association

5

and

the

Iowa

girls

high

school

athletic

union,

or

their

6

successor

organizations.

7

The

bill

provides

that

on

or

after

July

1,

2025,

a

school

8

district

shall

not

expend

any

moneys,

and

an

accredited

9

nonpublic

school

shall

not

expend

any

moneys

originating

from

10

the

state,

to

pay

dues

or

membership

fees

to

an

organization,

11

and

the

school

district

or

accredited

nonpublic

school

shall

12

not

be

a

member

of,

participate

in

activities

associated

13

with,

or

receive

services

from

an

organization

unless

the

14

organization

establishes,

in

combination

with

each

other

15

organization,

a

committee

known

as

the

conference

realignment

16

committee

that

is

tasked

with

taking

action

to

bring

about

17

reasonable

conference

affiliation

and

relationship

for

member

18

high

schools

pursuant

to

requests

submitted

by

member

high

19

schools;

develops

and

implements

a

policy

that

prohibits

the

20

organization

from

changing

the

extracurricular

interscholastic

21

athletics

conferences

unless

the

conference

realignment

22

committee

ordered

the

organization

to

make

such

change;

23

requires

the

organization

to

develop

an

expedited

review

and

24

implementation

process

for

certain

specified

orders

received

by

25

the

committee;

requires

member

schools

to

offer

at

least

one

26

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

activity

for

boys

27

and

at

least

one

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

28

activity

for

girls

in

all

seasons;

prohibits

member

schools

29

that

withdraw

from

an

extracurricular

interscholastic

athletics

30

conference,

without

approval,

from

competing

in

any

conference

31

for

two

years

and

from

competing

in

a

tournament

sponsored

by

32

an

organization

in

the

same

activity

for

two

years.

33

The

bill

requires

the

state

board

of

education

to

adopt

rules

34

to

administer

the

bill’s

provisions.

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