Legislation to open extracurricular activities to nontraditional students advances

Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, took a second run Monday at getting permission for nontraditional students to participate in extracurricular activities at their district public schools.

Rogers and Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, cooperated in drawing up the Rachel Sackett Act, which is named after a high-achieving Gwinnett County charter school student, who wants to play lacrosse with her local high school team. There was a similar bill in the House, but both it and the version that passed the Senate are languishing in a House committee and are not likely to come out with only two full legislative days remaining.

Monday, Rogers added an amendment with language from the Sackett bill to House Bill 192 in the Senate, which sets up an education committee to study school funding. The bill passed with Rogers' amendment 54-0.