SUNBURY, Ohio — The Big Walnut Board of Education unanimously approved to renew its membership with the Ohio High School Athletic Association during a meeting on Wednesday.
The renewal comes a week after the board decided to hold off on voting to renew its membership because of questions surrounding OHSAA's policies on transgender athletes and time constraints.
During last week's board meeting, some members had questions and concerns about the organization's policy. The board president decided to table the vote so there could be more discussion about the decision. The renewal deadline was also not until June and the president said he did not want to rush to a decision.
The issue of renewing the membership came three and a half hours into last week's meeting. The board president said there needed to be more time to discuss any concerns surrounding OHSAA's policy.
At the beginning of Wednesday's meeting, the board president said the OHSAA was able to clear up questions and concerns some board members had.
In the letter, OHSAA said the transgender policy had been in effect since the 2015-2016 school year. The letter also mentioned that less than 1% of all Ohio high school athletes have been approved by the policy.
10TV obtained the number of transgender athletes competing in female sports. Between the 2015-2016 and 2020-2021 school years, OHSAA says three high school transgender females were allowed to play. Eight seventh- and eighth-graders were approved in the same time period.
In the current school year, OHSAA says there were seven total rulings of transgender requests. But the association wanted to note students must make requests for each sport—meaning students account for multiple rulings.
Before the board voted on Wednesday, hundreds of students walked out of class to show the board they wanted to stay in the OSHAA.
If the board decided to not renew its membership with the organization, students would not have been able to compete in the organization's state tournaments and win state titles.
"Really our full intent of this walkout was to tell our board we want to maintain our right to play sports here," said Grant Coulson, a junior at the high school. "We value extracurriculars in sports and you know, exceeding at high levels is impossible without being in the OHSAA."
10TV asked if any other districts in the state are not members of OHSAA, the association said a few small private schools, but for public schools, it’s essentially unheard of.
If you are interested in reading the OHSAA's policy on transgender athletes, click here.