Stay under the state Department of Education, become a nonprofit, or a hybrid of those two options, that’s the question a task force is tackling for the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association.
No matter what the path is moving forward, everyone agrees that issues within DIAA have to be addressed.
But there are differing views from inside and outside of the task force about what to do which approach would be most effective.
House Speaker Valerie Longhurst is a co-chair of the task force. She believes the DIAA should remain under DOE because of the structure it provides, adding going on its own could create more problems.
"They're going to create their own regulations. They're going to be off on their own, the state and the secretary have no say and neither does the legislature. So the legislature now can fix a lot of these problems,” said Longhurst. “If it goes to non-profit you got to start a whole new thing all over again, and then you have to find the funding for it."
But Republican State Senator Eric Buckson believes there’s a framework for DIAA to go nonprofit with a “dose of DOE oversight.” Either way, he wants more input from experts and those involved day-to-day.
The Delaware Association of Athletic Directors believe a different direction is needed - citing staffing issues within the DIAA, and pointing to the norm in other states being an independent nonprofit or hybrid.
Stanley Spoor is among those on the task force who believe input from the DIAA Executive Director and Education Secretary is critical to determining what path to take. And while he sees benefits staying under DOE financially - his priority is fixing the issues DIAA faces.
"DIAA could be successful under DOE or as a nonprofit. I think a lot of the issues that we've discussed so far can and should be solved regardless of where it is," said Spoor.
As for some of DIAA’s current issues, its Executive Director David Baylor offered a presentation recommending moving the waiver hearing process to a hearing officer model with an appeal process to the board.
He also believes there are three key areas that need to improve: finance and marketing, compliance, and communications -- with hiring more staff necessary to address these areas.
