What You Must Do to Participate in Interscholastic Activities

Does your student want to play sports, participate in band, choir, or speech class offered through the public school? If so, they need to be tested no later than August 15, even if their chosen activity will not take place until spring of 2026.

An annual achievement test is required for each year a home school student wants to participate in one or more activity.  The total battery percentile rank on his or her test must be 23 or higher. This is a little higher than the standard of 15 and above which all students who simply want to home school must reach.

Here’s an excerpt from the home school rules governing participation (339.460):

(A)  Achieve a minimum score that places the student at or above the 23rd percentile, based on national norms, on an examination from the list the State Board of Education adopts under ORS 339.035. The student must take the examination at the end of each school year, and the student’s parent or legal guardian must submit the results to the school district for use in determining eligibility for the following year.

For students participating in team sports, the consequences for not complying are significant. In one case, a team was forced to forfeit all games in which an ineligible home schooler played. Ineligible, because the student had not tested. Coaches and athletic directors are not always familiar with the rules since that is not their focus.

Once your student has tested, submit the test results to the school district. While not required by rule, you could also provide copies to the coach/athletic director to help speed things along.  

Still need to complete testing? The final remote group testing opportunities you can access to meet the deadline are August 6, 8, 13, 15.

To sign up, go here: https://basicskills.net/remote-group-testing/

Thanks for reading!

Curt Bumcrot, MRE