Home School Participation in Georgia School Team and Individual Championships
1. Background. The Georgia Chess Association (GCA) sponsors several scholastic state championship events each year. All of these events have traditionally been open to home school students with the exception of the State School Team competitions. Beginning this school year, the GCA is extending an invitation to the home school community to participate in the school team events.
2. School Team Events. The Georgia School Team events are designed to recognize educational institutions that support chess as a part of their overall educational programs. Competition is conducted in four sections: Primary (K-3), Elementary (K-5), Middle School (6-8) and High School (9-12). An exception is made for 6th grade students in K-6 schools, who may participate on teams in the Elementary Section. A team consisting entirely of 6th grade students, however, must play in the Middle School Section. Home schools contemplating participating should have a minimum of five eligible students willing to compete as a team in a given section.
3. Home School Definition. It is presumed that a home school team will be composed of children who have a pre-existing relationship of meeting and studying together on a regular basis in academic areas beyond chess. An "all-star" team assembled or recruited by student abilities rather than by their pre-existing regular study relationship will not be allowed. A school is hereby defined as an institution having one name, is under one principal, director, or equivalent administrator, and which provides core curricular instruction in English, mathematics, science and social studies.
4. Grade Level of a Child. Since there is no official method to determine what grade a home school child is in, we have established that a child's equivalent grade will be determined by his or her age as of September 1 of the public school year of competition as per the following table:
| Grade | Ages |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten | under age 7 |
| 1stGrade | under age 8 |
| 2ndGrade | under age 9 |
| 3rd Grade | under age 10 |
| 4th Grade | under age 11 |
| 5th Grade | under age 12 |
| 6th Grade | under age 13 |
| 7th Grade | under age 14 |
| 8th Grade | under age 15 |
| 9th Grade | under age 16 |
| 10th Grade | under age 17 |
| 11th Grade | under age 18 |
| 12th Grade | under age 19 |
This calendar age will be used to determine the upper bounds of eligibility of home school participants for one of the four sections of competition. No student may have more than one year of eligibility for any grade, except for pre-schoolers, who may play for more than one year as a Kindergartener as long as all other requirements are met. No student shall have any eligibility for any grade below one in which the student has previously competed. Consistent with the above rules, a home school student should compete at his current declared grade level.
5. Home School Student on a Public or Private School Team. A student will be considered to attend a school if and only if he or she physically attends classes at that school, and receives more than 50% of his or her core curricular instruction during those classes. Thus a student who meets the above criteria for being a home school student and who supplements his or her home school education by taking a class or classes at a public or private school may not play on the chess team of that public or private school. This restriction holds even if the child's home school does not have a chess team.
6. Disclaimer. Participation by home school students in Georgia School Team Championships is a new aspect of our scholastic program, and the GCA reserves the right to modify these criteria or to establish new criteria as unforeseen problems become known. The onus will be on home school administrators to provide timely and full disclosure on any issues or questions. Any disputes as to home school participation will be decided at the sole discretion of the GCA Executive Board, and any decision of that board will be final and without appeal. Early communications and questions are encouraged.