A bill that passed the House but was facing the legislative session deadline in the Senate would change high schools classification rules by excluding English language learner (ELL) students who do not participate in sports.

The Alabama House of Representatives passed HB 298, sponsored by Rep. Brock Colvin (R-Albertville), 72-1 with 29 abstentions and a handful of floor amendments, which aims to bring impacted schools back down in classification, citing injuries and low participation for programs that are now playing at a larger-enrollment level.

High schools in Alabama are divided into seven classifications based on enrollment for grades 9-11. 1A is the smallest, and 7A is the largest division.

This bill would exclude ELL students who don't play sports from the count.

"For over three years, legislators have relayed their concerns regarding schools being forced to move up in classification due to a rise in English Language Learners (ELL) enrollment to the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA). Time and time again, our concerns of fairness, safety, and the discouragement of student athletes have fallen on deaf ears," said Colvin, who was elected in 2022, in an emailed statement when the bill passed the House on April 29.

Two of the amendments made it so only schools where ELL students make up 15% or more of its average daily membership can have their classification adjusted based on ELL enrollment and so this bill, if passed into law, would go into effect for the 2026-2027 year rather than the 2025-2026 school year.

Heath Harmon, executive director of the AHSAA, is opposed to the proposed legislation, saying politics should stay out of high school athletics, but rather the private Association, which does not accept public funds, should be governed by "themselves," the member schools.

"The AHSAA depends on public school membership and the use of public-school facilities to function. So, for them to act as though they should be immune from legislation that governs their actions – which impact tens of thousands of Alabama's student athletes – only further validates the need for HB298.

"The bill was amended and called for the placement of a member of the House and a member of Senate on the AHSAA's private board. Since we are a private association, with our board makeup established under a federal court order, we would be the only private board with a mandate for political representation which would interject politics into high school sports," Harmon said. "We strive to keep politics out of the boardroom and focus on doing what is best for all student athletes.

Harmon said in an emailed statement that the bill would establish "separate criteria for classifying public and private school members," though Colvin said it "would not treat public and private school members any differently than they are currently being treated under the 1.35x multiplier rule."

"An EL[L] student who has not declared a year before classification and later decides to participate would not count toward classification of their school. As many of you know, one student can affect classification," Harmon said on another part of the bill with which he took issue.

He also said that "sports with a high percentage of EL[L] students would have an advantage over areas of the state with few EL[L] students." He said he thinks the bill will lead to the discouragement of ELL student participation in high school sports.

"There was a similar proposal that was voted on by member schools that only received a 27% yes vote from our member schools," Harmon said. "A classification directive that does not go through our democratic legislative process and classification committee lacks the support and thorough vetting that is necessary for successful implementation. As an Association, we are committed to supporting all member schools in all sports in addition to promoting participation. This bill is in direct opposition to those commitments."

The bill, which is also sponsored by state Rep. Jennifer Fidler (R-Fairhope), among four others, is pending the Senate Committee on Education Policy. As of this writing on Monday, May 7, there was one more legislative day of the 30 in this session.