By Jeff Budlong and Tim Engstrom, staff editors

Many local coaches and administrators are pleased with the Minnesota State High School League&8217;s changing of the transfer rule, but a bill in the state House of Representatives threatens to nullify the new rule.

Last Friday, the league assembly voted unanimously to require students who transfer schools without changing their home address to sit out of varsity athletic competition for one year. The goal was to curb the recruiting of athletes and to curb transferring for non-academic reasons.

&8220;It is a great thing and one that has been needed for a while,&8221; said Albert Lea High School athletic director Clay Anderson. &8220;It keeps an athlete from staring in one sport at one school and then moving to another to star in a different sport.&8221;

Currently, students can transfer once with no penalty. If they switch schools again without changing addresses, they must sit out half their varsity season.

The new rule is geared mainly toward teams in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas where recruiting takes place to form so-called &8220;super teams,&8221; such as Apple Valley wrestling or the St. Paul Central girls&8217; basketball state championship squad. Anderson said the impact in the Albert Lea-Austin area would be a minimal one.

The bill in the Legislature would make it illegal for the Minnesota State High School League to limit the eligibility of student-athletes. Debra Hillman, DFL-Brooklyn Center, authored the bill. Gov. Tim Pawlenty weighed in on the issue Tuesday, opposing the MSHSL&8217;s rule.

Hillman said she penned the measure because two school districts in her area will be affected by the eligibility rule. The superintendent at Brooklyn Center supports her bill, she said. More than 500 students in the district open enroll, she said.

She said it is unfair to punish students who transfer schools without moving and many of them participate in extra-curricular activities governed by the MSHSL in addition to academic pursuits.

Most of Albert Lea&8217;s transfers come in sports such as soccer and hockey, which are not offered at any other school in the Tribune coverage area. Sometimes they switch back after that season ends.

&8220;I think this is long overdue to be honest,&8221; Albert Lea head basketball coach Karol Hansen said.

&8220;The Albert Lea girls&8217; basketball team got to experience that when we played Bloomington Kennedy. Their coach has the nickname Percy &8220;the recruiter&8221; &8212; which true or not true, I don&8217;t know &8212; but wherever he goes he brings his girls with him.

&8220;I understand an educator&8217;s view about the open enrollment and allowing students in Minnesota to get the best education they can &8230; but somewhere along the way it got turned and people took advantage of it.&8221;

While many in the area were for the change, some members of the state House are not as enthusiastic.

&8220;The governor is one person who is entitled to his opinion, but what expertise does he have in education to make this decision?&8221; Anderson said.

Alden-Conger Superintendent Joe Guanella said his major concern is that the rule is punishing the majority when only a few are abusing the current system.

&8220;I understand the metro frustration, but I do have a problem when opportunity is taken away,&8221; he

said. &8220;I just wonder if this is a localized problem affecting three or four schools or is this a widespread problem?&8221;

Guanella said a quick check of their open enrollees from the past 10 years showed that only two students would have been effected by the new rule.

Anderson said it would be a blow to educators if this new bylaw was repealed.

&8220;It would be very disappointing and discouraging because the league went through several committees, investigated all the avenues and qualified individuals who looked at this and made the decision,&8221; he said.

&8220;It may effect private schools as far as the kids they are able to draw from, but most of the

kids who transfer to our district are going to be living in the district,&8221; New

Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva athletic director Mindy Sparby said.

Albert Lea Superintendent Dave Prescott said the Minnesota State High School League is a body that knows the ill-effects of recruiting students-athletes more than the Legislature. He said research shows recruiting isn&8217;t in the best interest of students.

The students might get what they seek for athletics, but switching classes as they switch schools hurts their grades.

The Republican governor told reporters that he worries the rule will impede Minnesota&8217;s tradition of school choice through a long-standing open-enrollment law.

&8220;A lot of kids who are academically interested or motivated to move schools or school districts also happen to be in extracurricular activities,&8221; Pawlenty said. &8220;You don&8217;t want to punish them.&8221;

He continued, &8220;If we&8217;re going to err on one side or the other we should err on the side of flexibility, mobility and choice and not holding kids in their home district if they don&8217;t want to be there.&8221;

Pawlenty didn&8217;t endorse any specific action. But he said the state has the power to review the league&8217;s decision despite its standing as a nonprofit entity.

If the new rule were to go into effect students and their parents now have 10 school days, until the end of the business day on March 30 to transfer/open enroll to your school for 2007-08 in order to be under the old open enrollment bylaw.

After March 30, the student will be under the new bylaw for open enrollment rule for 2007-08.

The new rule only applies to athletes in varsity level competition and students entering the ninth grade can still choose to go to any school at that time without penalty.

Nearly 500 schools are members of the league, which governs athletics and fine arts competitions for more than 200,000 high school students statewide each year.

&8212; The Associated Press contributed to this report.