Upgraded MPA transfer policy still lacks teeth

The Maine Principals’ Association held its spring meeting this week and (thankfully) abandoned its high school open tournament mess (I mean system), which had been further complicated by arcane and inaccurate geographic distinctions culled from pre-Magellan cartographers.

The MPA also cast its collective eye on recruiting, and listened to committee recommendations on its sports season policy.

And the all-powerful governing body of Maine high school athletics passed a rule on transfer students. It’s a wonderful rule. It makes perfect sense. And it will likely possess roughly the same binding power as a gallon of prune juice.

I know that sentiment won’t be very popular in certain circles. Educational circles. Administrational circles.

And I can already hear the complaints.

Mr. Holyoke to the office, please. Mr. Holyoke, please report to the principal’s office.

But let’s examine the issue.

Players transfer. (I know, I’m supposed to use the word students, or at the very least, student-athletes.

But let’s remember: The MPA membership isn’t fighting over banning the transfer of the kid who’s gonna win the Bausch & Lomb Science Award. They’re fighting about the 6-foot-6 shooting guard, or the star quarterback, or the girl who can break backstops with her high-speed windmill pitches.

Athletes.

If Junior Jumpshot wants to transfer from lowly Podunk Valley High so he can play his final year for the defending state champs at Muskrat Hills, that’s something that the MPA should be interested in. It’s something that they’ve always been interested in.

And it’s something that’s happened anyway. The catch? Athletes have never been able to transfer for solely athletic purposes.

So they don’t. They transfer citing the chemistry lab. Or they cite the fact that the new school will provide a better social situation. Or they cite the fact that educationally, Podunk Valley can’t hold a candle to good ol’ Muskrat Hills.

And up until now, the receiving principal has been the one who had to say “No.”

That should have been good enough, you’d figure. After all, these are educators. And one of the most important pieces of the educational puzzle may be teaching students that ethically, the ends do not justify the means, no matter what pop culture preaches every day.

The receiving principals aren’t blind. They understand how things work, and they know exactly why the athletes are transferring. And for some reason, some of those principals have chosen to give their own organization’s guidelines a liberal interpretation for years.

A few years ago, one administrator told me that the problem was pretty simple: It’s nearly impossible to prove that a student’s top transfer concern is his or her sport of choice. The result, he said: Principals just grit their teeth and bear it.

Now, the MPA has told its membership that both principals have to sign off on a prospective transfer.

In theory, that sounds great.

But it still takes one principal to stand up and say “No.” It still takes one principal to refuse to buckle when Junior’s parents hire a lawyer and threaten to sue. It still takes one principal who’s willing absorb the wrath of another school’s administration, knowing full well that other subsequent transfers from that school will become more complicated.

Maybe the new rule will change everything. But I’ll bet you a bottle of prune juice that it won’t change much at all.

John Holyoke can be reached at 990-8214, 1-800-310-8600, or by e-mail at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net