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An Act Relating to Private School Student Participation in Public School Cocurricular, Interscholastic and Extracurricular Activities
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §5021-A, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 456, §1, is amended to read:
A school administrative unit shall conform to the following standards in making public school resources and services available to a student enrolled in an equivalent instruction program. For the purposes of this section, "student enrolled in an equivalent instruction program" means a student otherwise eligible to attend school in that school administrative unit, including a student who resides in the unorganized territory, when the student is enrolled in an equivalent instruction program in a private school that is recognized as an equivalent instruction alternative under section 5001-A, subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph (1), division (a) or (b) and that is not a member of an association that promotes, organizes or regulates statewide interscholastic activities in both public and private schools.
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §5021-A, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 456, §1, is amended to read:
 
A. The student or the student's parent or guardian, on behalf of the student, applies in writing to and receives written approval from the principal of the school or the principal's designee. The principal or the principal's designee may not withhold approval unless the school cannot reasonably accommodate the student's participation.
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §5021-A, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 456, §1, is amended to read:
 
A. The student applies for and receives written approval from the principal of the school or the principal's designee, who may not withhold such approval unless the school cannot reasonably accommodate the student's participation.
 
SUMMARY
This bill changes the standards for making public school resources and services available to students enrolled in certain equivalent instruction programs by eliminating the requirement that resources and services be made available to students in a private school recognized by the Department of Education as providing equivalent instruction and by limiting the ability of the public school principal or the principal's designee to deny participation to situations where the school cannot reasonably accommodate the student's participation.