MSHSL Transfer Rules

Task Force 34 · Post by **Task Force 34** » Sat May 17, 2014 8:48 am

Can anyone point me to the rule on transferring from a private high school back to a public school?

Facts: Played for private school last year at the varsity level. Good experience but for a number of reasons (including escalating tuition) would like to return to public high school. If I understand correctly, this player would be ineligible to compete at the Varsity level.

Are there exceptions to this rule, i.e financial hardship, etc. that would allow the player to continue competing at the same level they were prior to the transfer or are they limited to JV hockey for one year.

Thoughts and/or documents to refer to would be helpful.

Post by **karl(east)** » Sat May 17, 2014 10:15 am

Yes, it is possible to get a financial hardship exemption from the 1-year waiting period for varsity sports. I'm not sure exactly what goes into it, but I don't think it's terribly difficult to get. Get in touch with your new AD and they can probably walk you through it.

the_juiceman · Post by **the_juiceman** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 11:01 pm

question... family rents townhouse in a neighboring city so son can change schools. plan on renting out their home in the process. does this allow kid to play varsity this coming season or will he have to play jv? he will be a senior.

thespellchecker · Post by **thespellchecker** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 11:28 pm

neighboring school? As long as family had a change of residence player is eligible for the school of which they now live. AD may ask some questions that are not part of the MSHSL policy but yes they eligible.

Bluelightspecial · Post by **Bluelightspecial** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:53 am

How about prep to public? Any rule?

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 11:19 am

Bluelightspecial wrote:How about prep to public? Any rule?

See karl(east)'s post just above.

Bluelightspecial · Post by **Bluelightspecial** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:02 pm

Yes, I believe he's referring to a private, such as St. Thomas, BSM. I'm talking prep. For example, Shattuck .

the_juiceman · Post by **the_juiceman** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:02 pm

thespellchecker wrote:neighboring school? As long as family had a change of residence player is eligible for the school of which they now live. AD may ask some questions that are not part of the MSHSL policy but yes they eligible.

yes, neighboring school, same district. So, even tho they are not buying new house(renting), and no intention of selling old house(renting out), this is with-in the scope of the transfer policy?

Defensive Zone · Post by **Defensive Zone** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:00 pm

the_juiceman wrote:
thespellchecker wrote:neighboring school? As long as family had a change of residence player is eligible for the school of which they now live. AD may ask some questions that are not part of the MSHSL policy but yes they eligible.
yes, neighboring school, same district. So, even tho they are not buying new house(renting), and no intention of selling old house(renting out), this is with-in the scope of the transfer policy?

Talking to a few AD's about this transfer rule in the past few years, my understanding is that the whole family has to physically move...own! Renting does not count. Even a signed purchase agreement does not count at the start of school/season. Basically, the AD’s told me that all the tooth brushes have to be wet. If this is not happening, then the family/AD/school are possibly not in compliance of the transfer rule.

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:36 am

Defensive Zone wrote:Talking to a few AD's about this transfer rule in the past few years, my understanding is that the whole family has to physically move...own! Renting does not count. Even a signed purchase agreement does not count at the start of school/season. Basically, the AD’s told me that all the tooth brushes have to be wet. If this is not happening, then the family/AD/school are possibly not in compliance of the transfer rule.

I agree with the "wet toothbrush" standard, but that can be obviously satisfied if the family is renting in the new district. Are you assuming that every family rich enough to support a hockey playing child is a homeowning-family?

And you can own a home in the old district and rent in the new one, so long your house is on the market and it is your intention to permanently move into the new district. This quasi-loophole has been used rather successfully in the past...put your home on the market, move out of the house to make it "easier" to sell, but you never seem to get the right price to sell it. So after a year (or after that season) you "give up," take the home off the market, and move back.

TheInsider · Post by **TheInsider** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 12:59 pm

So, if you go to a private school and you want to transfer to the public school district that you live in, you can move within the public school district that you already live in and be eligible? But your still living in the same school district the whole time? Doesnt seem right. I must be reading this wrong.

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 1:27 pm

TheInsider wrote:So, if you go to a private school and you want to transfer to the public school district that you live in, you can move within the public school district that you already live in and be eligible? But your still living in the same school district the whole time? Doesnt seem right. I must be reading this wrong.

The easiest thing to do if you want to go from private to your home public school without Little Johnny sitting for a year is to apply for a hardship exemption and claim that you can't afford private school tuition anymore. That keeps you from having to move anywhere.

Oh, and it's the high school collection area boundaries that matter, not school district boundaries. Same thing for districts with only one high school, but not for districts with more than one hs.

nu2hockey · Post by **nu2hockey** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 5:03 pm

if you are considering a change in school, read the handbook on the MSHSL website. Also talk to your AD. 95% of the info on the forum is incorrect and pure opinion when it concerns transfer/move questions .

Bluelightspecial · Post by **Bluelightspecial** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 5:57 pm

Ok, so how does a junior from Shattuck transfer to public outside of the Faribault school district and not sit a year?

urban iceman · Post by **urban iceman** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:01 pm

nu2hockey wrote:if you are considering a change in school, read the handbook on the MSHSL website. Also talk to your AD. 95% of the info on the forum is incorrect and pure opinion when it concerns transfer/move questions .

Might as well to use that paper to wipe your you know what for as much as it's enforced

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:01 pm

Bluelightspecial wrote:Ok, so how does a junior from Shattuck transfer to public outside of the Faribault school district and not sit a year?

SSM is not in the MSHSL, so any of their players can transfer to a MSHSL public or a MSHSL private school without having to play JV or sit out a year.

Bluelightspecial · Post by **Bluelightspecial** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:07 pm

I think they better be careful. I doesn't say any about belonging to mshsl.

Bluelightspecial · Post by **Bluelightspecial** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:08 pm

If it does I am sorry, but I don't see that in any of the language.

nu2hockey · Post by **nu2hockey** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:31 pm

Wrong, the player cannot "transfer" and have immediate varsity eligibility.

The player will be eligible for varsity where the family resides.

for example: if family resides in Northfield while soph student/ player attends SSM, School year ends...Student can enter Northfield next fall as junior and play varsity provided family still resides in Northfield.

Residency is the key

Bluelightspecial · Post by **Bluelightspecial** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:44 pm

Thanks

puckbreath · Post by **puckbreath** » Sun Jul 27, 2014 7:48 pm

urban iceman wrote:
nu2hockey wrote:if you are considering a change in school, read the handbook on the MSHSL website. Also talk to your AD. 95% of the info on the forum is incorrect and pure opinion when it concerns transfer/move questions .
Might as well to use that paper to wipe your you know what for as much as it's enforced

Yep.

goldy313 · Post by **goldy313** » Thu Jul 31, 2014 11:53 pm

MNHockeyFan wrote:
Bluelightspecial wrote:Ok, so how does a junior from Shattuck transfer to public outside of the Faribault school district and not sit a year?
SSM is not in the MSHSL, so any of their players can transfer to a MSHSL public or a MSHSL private school without having to play JV or sit out a year.

Wrong. SSM is in the MSHSL just not their hockey team. In past years the MSHSL has refused kids leaving AAA teams and going back to high school teams without a move. I believe the most prominent example was a White Bear Lake goalie who went to Madison without a move then tried to come back to WBL...It's happened from the Madison program a few other times as well including a Dodge County kid. The MSHSL denied his eligibility as there was no bona fide change of address.

The gaining school in question and family needs to be very careful as there is already some rumblings of eligibility questions there.

SidneysDogHouse · Post by **SidneysDogHouse** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:31 am

goldy313 wrote:
MNHockeyFan wrote:
Bluelightspecial wrote:Ok, so how does a junior from Shattuck transfer to public outside of the Faribault school district and not sit a year?
SSM is not in the MSHSL, so any of their players can transfer to a MSHSL public or a MSHSL private school without having to play JV or sit out a year.
Wrong. SSM is in the MSHSL just not their hockey team. In past years the MSHSL has refused kids leaving AAA teams and going back to high school teams without a move. I believe the most prominent example was a White Bear Lake goalie who went to Madison without a move then tried to come back to WBL...It's happened from the Madison program a few other times as well including a Dodge County kid. The MSHSL denied his eligibility as there was no bona fide change of address.

The gaining school in question and family needs to be very careful as there is already some rumblings of eligibility questions there.

Very interesting conversation, and you would think having MSHSL rules would make this easy! SSM is a considered a MSHSL school. If anyone leaves a private type school and intends to enter a public school, they will lose a year of varsity just like everyone else, unless...they permanently move into the new school boundary (the term "district" is technically incorrect) PERIOD! That is how it's supposed to work, however, there have been numerous occasions of exceptions, which financial hardships seems to be the most used. Technically, proof of hardship (loss of job, death, etc) is necessary.

When moving, you can rent your previous home and the new home as long as you have no intent to return. You do need to provide proof of rent or sale on the current residence. Once moved, all that is necessary is proof of residence (electric bill, etc), and a wet toothbrush!

There are curveballs that mess this up, like two HS's from the same town! I've heard that with the Aces problem last year that there have been more checks put in place to ensure compliance, not sure this is true though as it seems to be happening again without any push back from the MSHSL.

At some point, those schools who are bending the rules (especially on multiple occasions) need to be dealt with or this problem will get much worse. We don't need any more erosion of our precious HS hockey program.

Defensive Zone · Post by **Defensive Zone** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:39 pm

SidneysDogHouse wrote:
goldy313 wrote:
MNHockeyFan wrote: SSM is not in the MSHSL, so any of their players can transfer to a MSHSL public or a MSHSL private school without having to play JV or sit out a year.
Wrong. SSM is in the MSHSL just not their hockey team. In past years the MSHSL has refused kids leaving AAA teams and going back to high school teams without a move. I believe the most prominent example was a White Bear Lake goalie who went to Madison without a move then tried to come back to WBL...It's happened from the Madison program a few other times as well including a Dodge County kid. The MSHSL denied his eligibility as there was no bona fide change of address.

The gaining school in question and family needs to be very careful as there is already some rumblings of eligibility questions there.

Very interesting conversation, and you would think having MSHSL rules would make this easy! SSM is a considered a MSHSL school. If anyone leaves a private type school and intends to enter a public school, they will lose a year of varsity just like everyone else, unless...they permanently move into the new school boundary (the term "district" is technically incorrect) PERIOD! That is how it's supposed to work, however, there have been numerous occasions of exceptions, which financial hardships seems to be the most used. Technically, proof of hardship (loss of job, death, etc) is necessary.

When moving, you can rent your previous home and the new home as long as you have no intent to return. You do need to provide proof of rent or sale on the current residence. Once moved, all that is necessary is proof of residence (electric bill, etc), and a wet toothbrush!

There are curveballs that mess this up, like two HS's from the same town! I've heard that with the Aces problem last year that there have been more checks put in place to ensure compliance, not sure this is true though as it seems to be happening again without any push back from the MSHSL.

At some point, those schools who are bending the rules (especially on multiple occasions) need to be dealt with or this problem will get much worse. We don't need any more erosion of our precious HS hockey program.

[There are curveballs that mess this up, like two HS's from the same town! I've heard that with the Aces problem last year that there have been more checks put in place to ensure compliance, not sure this is true though as it seems to be happening again without any push back from the MSHSL. ]

This is an interesting point. There is a couple of players transferring/moving to Lv North this summer. One from SSM and the other from Lv South. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

SidneysDogHouse · Post by **SidneysDogHouse** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:39 am

Defensive Zone wrote:
SidneysDogHouse wrote:
goldy313 wrote: Wrong. SSM is in the MSHSL just not their hockey team. In past years the MSHSL has refused kids leaving AAA teams and going back to high school teams without a move. I believe the most prominent example was a White Bear Lake goalie who went to Madison without a move then tried to come back to WBL...It's happened from the Madison program a few other times as well including a Dodge County kid. The MSHSL denied his eligibility as there was no bona fide change of address.

The gaining school in question and family needs to be very careful as there is already some rumblings of eligibility questions there.

Very interesting conversation, and you would think having MSHSL rules would make this easy! SSM is a considered a MSHSL school. If anyone leaves a private type school and intends to enter a public school, they will lose a year of varsity just like everyone else, unless...they permanently move into the new school boundary (the term "district" is technically incorrect) PERIOD! That is how it's supposed to work, however, there have been numerous occasions of exceptions, which financial hardships seems to be the most used. Technically, proof of hardship (loss of job, death, etc) is necessary.

When moving, you can rent your previous home and the new home as long as you have no intent to return. You do need to provide proof of rent or sale on the current residence. Once moved, all that is necessary is proof of residence (electric bill, etc), and a wet toothbrush!

There are curveballs that mess this up, like two HS's from the same town! I've heard that with the Aces problem last year that there have been more checks put in place to ensure compliance, not sure this is true though as it seems to be happening again without any push back from the MSHSL.

At some point, those schools who are bending the rules (especially on multiple occasions) need to be dealt with or this problem will get much worse. We don't need any more erosion of our precious HS hockey program.
[There are curveballs that mess this up, like two HS's from the same town! I've heard that with the Aces problem last year that there have been more checks put in place to ensure compliance, not sure this is true though as it seems to be happening again without any push back from the MSHSL. ]

This is an interesting point. There is a couple of players transferring/moving to Lv North this summer. One from SSM and the other from Lv South. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

When is all this going to stop? It's sad that we're all looking at this as the norm, it shouldn't be...fair is fair! There are families who have sacrificed deeply, financially and personally to make a "real" transfer work, then you have the LVN situation. Remember, this started two years ago with them when a goalie returned from Holy Angels, robbing someone of a net spot, due to hardship. Ironically, that same goalie got robbed last year when Ottenger (sp)came in. At some point, an example needs to be made.