Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law that he said will make the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association’s (OSSAA) decisions more public and end penalizing student athletes for transferring schools.
House Bill 2153 will require the OSSAA to conduct public eligibility, rule violation, and hardship waiver hearings in meetings subject to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.
This law will also get rid of the automatic one-year “sit out” period that the governor said has prevented many transfer students from competing in athletics after changing schools. Schools will be required to have a sit-out period but the time period isn’t required to be a full year.
“I’ve heard too many stories of students who did everything right to transfer, only to be sidelined by an unelected, unaccountable activities association,” said Governor Stitt. “No student’s chance to be a part of an activity should depend on whether their parents can afford an attorney. This law puts families, not bureaucracies, at the center.
Under the new law, OSSAA has full authority to set eligibility standards and guard against unfair competitive advantages but must do so through procedures that are visible to parents, students, and schools.
The law applies to all OSSAA-sanctioned activities.
OSSAA said new law gives schools “flexibility”
Jackson said schools now have the flexibility in the length of their sit-out rule.
“If the member schools want to change the sit-out period from one-year to some other time, it could be shorter, it could go to a semester,” said Jackson.
Jackson said schools would also be allowed to lengthen the time period if they wanted.
Jackson said the part of the new law that will require OSSAA to conduct public eligibility, rule violation, and hardship waiver hearings in meetings subject to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, will not be a change for the organization.
“We are already conducting business according to the Open Meetings Act and have been for a long time,” he said, “matter of fact, it’s part of our constitution.”
In a statement to News 9, OSSAA said,
“While OSSAA’s current rules still require a one-year sit-out period, the bill now allows the organization’s board and member schools to change that rule through their usual majority voting process if they choose.”
Stitt called for the elimination of OSSAA in State of the State address
During his 2026 State of the State address, the governor said he wanted to eliminate the OSSAA. He claimed that while the state passed open transfer to help students get out of failing school districts, the OSSAA makes that transfer process difficult for student-athletes.
MORE: Why Gov. Stitt wants to eliminate OSSAA
“In my 2026 State of the State, I made it clear that our goal is to protect the American Dream in Oklahoma by putting students and parents first,” Stitt said. “No child’s opportunities should be limited by their zip code. HB 2153 is another step toward an education system where families have real choices and where every student can succeed.”
“If they want to excel in athletics, their opportunity may be blocked by an unelected and unaccountable high school sports association, the OSSAA,” said Stitt during the address.
During the address, Stitt mentioned an instance where four high school basketball players transferred schools and believed they did everything right, but were still rejected from playing basketball at their new school due to the OSSAA. The families of the students and the basketball coach went through a lengthy battle with the OSSAA, and eligibility was eventually reinstated.
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