Homeschool students shall be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities at a public school consistent with eligibility standards. School districts may not impose additional requirements on homeschool students that are not imposed on fully enrolled public school students. Utah Code § 53G-6-703.

Homeschool students who are dual enrolled are eligible to participate in any extracurricular or co-curricular activity in the public school available to students in their grade or age group, subject to compliance with the same rules and requirements that apply to a full-time student’s participation in the activity. State Board of Education Regulation R277-438-34. Utah Code § 53G-6-702.

Utah Code § 53G-6-702

Dual enrollment

  1. As used in this section, “minor” means the same as the term that is defined in Section 53G-6. 
  2. A person having control of a minor who is enrolled in a regularly established private school or a home school may also enroll the minor in a public school for dual enrollment purposes.
  3.  The minor may participate in any academic activity in the public school available to students in the minor’s grade or age group, subject to compliance with the same rules and requirements that apply to a full-time student’s participation in the activity.

    1. A student enrolled in a dual enrollment program in a district school is considered a student of the district in which the district school of attendance is located for purposes of state funding to the extent of the student’s participation in the district school programs.
    2. A student enrolled in a dual enrollment program in a charter school is considered a student of the charter school for purposes of state funding to the extent of the student’s participation in the charter school programs.
  5. In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the State Board of Education shall make rules for purposes of dual enrollment to govern and regulate the transferability of credits toward graduation that are earned in a private school or homeschool.

Things to keep in mind:

Public school access includes participation in public school classes, sports, activities, etc.

States use a unique vocabulary in this area: “extracurricular,” “cocurricular,” “curricular,” “interscholastic,” “program,” “activity,” etc. Care should be taken to distinguish one from another. When a state defines a word, it is important.

While athletic association rules are not “law,” public schools are generally constrained to operate within them, or their teams could be disqualified. We therefore refer to association rules of particular importance in a number of entries.

We strive toward keeping this information 100% up to date in this rapidly changing area of the law. However, this post should not be considered authoritative because of the possibility of unobserved changes in association rules, statutes, regulations, or case decisions, and because of lag time between changes and the publication of updates. 

Please note: The information on this page has been reviewed by an attorney, but it should not be taken as legal advice specific to your individual situation.