REORGANIZATION AND LEGALIZATION
Prior to 1952, the Bylaws consisted of major rules to which had been added, over the years, explanations and rulings based upon interpretations and decisions of various Boards of Appeals. As a result of general acceptance and long usage, these explanations and interpretations acquired force and meaning comparable to the basic rules. Consequently, at the annual meeting of the Board of Control in 1952, official action was taken declaring that, because of usage, explanations and interpretations under the rules are a part of the rules. At the annual meeting in 1955 a constitution was adopted establishing authority for a reorganization to include all interscholastic activities and the changing of the name of the organization from the “West Virginia High School Athletic Association.” The reorganization provided for a division of the Bylaws into two separate parts: “The Athletic Bylaws” and “The Non-Athletic Activities Bylaws.” An act to amend Article 2, Chapter 18 of the Code of West Virginia of 1931 as amended by adding thereto a new section, designated Section 25, pertaining to The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission was enacted into law by the West Virginia Legislature on March 11, 1967. The new law created the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission as a legal entity, an arm of the county school boards. As such it is authorized by law to make rules and regulations and to adjudicate contested cases. Prior to the enactment of the law in 1967, the Commission’s scope of jurisdiction included supervision, control and regulation of all interscholastic extracurricular activities of the schools of its members. The law now limits the Commission’s scope of jurisdiction to interscholastic athletic events and band activities. The position of the Commission was further strengthened as the result of a decision rendered by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in a case styled, WEST VIRGINIA SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES COMMISSION v HARVEY OAKLEY, JUDGE, AND EDWARD LEE, dated September 1968. The decision rendered is long and need not be recounted here in its entirety. However, a few very significant statements from that decision are important enough to be included in this section on LEGALIZATION. (Boldface is pertinent. Points not necessarily in order in the decision). As a general rule courts should not interfere with the internal affairs of school activities commissions or associations. The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission is still for all intents and purposes in the same position as it has been for the past fifty years; that is, that member schools eligible to participate may voluntarily do so, and after such participation, they agree to comply with the rules and regulations that have governed such organization in the past and will govern in the future. The organization has had rules for eligibility of students to participate in athletics or procedure for declaring such students ineligible to participate and for disciplinary procedures for member schools and for the review of such action or decision made by the officers of boards of the association or organization during its entire existence. Where such procedure is provided for in such organization or association the procedure must be followed and due process of law may be afforded administratively without the use of or application to the courts. (State ex. rel. Burchett v Taylor, 150 W.Va. 702, 149 S.E. 2d 234.) The question as to whether a student’s participation in interscholastic athletics is a CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT or a PRIVILEGE was answered in litigation in the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA, CHARLESTON, in a Civil Action case No. 79-2497 Harris vs. West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, et. al. On September 2, 1981, Chief Judge Dennis R. Knapp ruled: “The Supreme Court held that a student’s legitimate entitlement to an education is a property interest protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Gross vs. Lopez, 419 U.S. 754; 95 S. Ct. 729 (1975). However, participating in interscholastic athletics is only a mere expectation rather than a constitutionally protected claim of entitlement and, thus, falls outside the protection of due process. Moreland v. Western Pennsylvania, 572 F. 2d 121 (3rd Cir. 1978). Even if the plaintiff’s due process arguments were well founded, the WVSSAC, in both its rules and actions, provided plaintiff with a sufficient review procedure that ultimately resulted in the relief sought.”
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