“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” – Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Due to a new bill that Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law, all public schools in Missouri will now be required to allow homeschool students to try out for their sports teams and other school activities. This specific piece of legislation, Senate Bill 63, was signed into law in early July and will go into effect on August 28, 2025.
Previously, state law in Missouri left it open to individual school districts to decide whether or not they wanted to allow homeschool students to participate in their sports programs and other activities. Furthermore, if a school district opted in, the district required the homeschool students to take at least two classes at the high school to be eligible to participate in their programs.
The new law not only requires all public schools in Missouri to allow homeschool students to participate in their activities, but it also drops the requirement for homeschool students to take at least two high school classes in order to be able to participate in school activities. These types of legislation are commonly referred to as “Tim Tebow Bills.” Tebow was a homeschool student through high school but had the opportunity to play high school sports due to a Florida law allowing homeschool participation. He went on to win two national championships at Florida, win the Heisman trophy, and play in the NFL.
In Kentucky, during our last legislative session, there was a vote on a similar proposal, HFA 1 to SB 120 from Rep. Steve Doan (District 69 – Boone and Kenton Counties). Unfortunately, the House voted it down by a vote of 26-32, with 42 members not voting at all. Fewer than 20 states, including Kentucky, still have total bans on homeschool students participating in public school sports and school activities.
LET US PRAY…
Father, we are thankful for this new law that will be going into effect in Missouri that will open up wonderful opportunities for homeschool students. Lord, we pray that similar legislation will soon be passed here in our Commonwealth. Father, may Kentucky be a state where parents can truly direct the education of their children. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
