1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I strongly oppose SB863 (Bean), SB1364 (Schroer), and HB2278 (Cook), which would dissolve the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) and replace it with a board of political appointees chosen by the Governor. This is a blatant attempt to inject partisan politics into high school sports, arts, and activities. MSHSAA’s current board is composed of education professionals—superintendents, principals, and coaches—who understand the needs of students. Replacing them with political appointees, as these bills propose, would prioritize ideology over the welfare of student-athletes. These bills appear to be retaliatory, following unfounded discrimination complaints and investigations targeting MSHSAA’s diversity efforts. As Karissa Niehoff, CEO of the National Federation of State High School Associations, has stated, nonpartisan nonprofits like MSHSAA are best equipped to protect students. Political boards lack the expertise and would destabilize the structure that has served Missouri for over a century. This move must be seen as part of a broader, alarming pattern of state legislatures seizing control from local communities—particularly in areas of education—to impose a narrow, top-down political agenda. It threatens to subject the rules, resource allocation, and very purpose of student activities to the shifting winds of partisan politics, jeopardizing inclusivity, equity, and the educational mission itself. Our communities, through their locally accountable school boards, are best positioned to guide the associations that serve their students. Centralizing this power in the Governor's office disenfranchises those stakeholders and creates unnecessary bureaucracy. We must defend local control and keep partisan politics off the playing field and out of our children's extracurricular lives. I urge you to reject this power grab and protect community-based governance of student activities.