No public sports for home-schooled students

Home-schooled students in Windsor and Essex County do not get their shot at trying out for public school sports.

Greater Essex District School Board superintendent Sharon Pyke said it is against policy.

“You’re either in the school system or you’re not in the school system,” said Pyke.  “In our board and many boards across the province, (the policy) is that you would not be able to do sports if you are from home-schooling.”

Pyke said there are health and safety issues because the board doesn’t know anything about the home-schooled children who would want to be in the school for sports.

“We know nothing about the child, we know nothing about their academics, about their communication and about their behaviour,” said Pyke. “It’s not that we wouldn’t want them, it is that we have some things in place that wouldn’t allow us.”

Sarah Rankin, a Windsorite who was home-schooled from kindergarten to grade 7, said she would have loved to try out for public school sports.

“It would have been a great experience helping to prepare me for what to expect when I eventually went to high school to know how people acted who had been in school all their life compared to me,” said Rankin.

Maria Dragicecic, a physical education teacher for Southwood Public School, said if home-schooled students were allowed to try out for sports it would be unfair.

“Students that are already based at a school, it’s unfair for them that other children that are home-schooled might take their position from the team,” said Dragicecic. “Not only would that bother some of the students, it might even bother some of the parents.”

According to the Ontario Federation of Independent Schools, the number of students in independent schools and home-schools account for 6 per cent of Ontario’s total student population.