District 10 Handbook                   
PDF 2008-2009 PRINTABLE VERSION         

Part 1 DISTRICT 10 COMMITTEE  

  Section 1.   Membership

A.   The Counties of Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango and Warren/Forest Counties combined, and the city of Erie shall be entitled to one elected at-large representative.   Representatives must be employed as a Principal, Athletic Director, and/or faculty member of a PIAA-member school or as a school administrator of a school district which has at least one PIAA member school.

B.   There shall be one member at large elected to represent Junior High/Middle Schools.  The elected member shall serve for two years, beginning each odd-numbered year.

C.   A representative of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) shall serve as a member for a two-year term elected by the PSBA.

D.   A representative of the District Athletic Directors’ Association (who is employed as an Athletic Director at the time of appointment), shall serve as a member of the District X Committee. The representative shall serve for two years, beginning each even-numbered year.

E.   One District female official, who is an active official, elected annually from among their own number by the female officials’ members, and one District male official, who is an active official, elected annually from among their own number by the male officials’ members shall serve as members.

F.   One female parent representative and one male parent representative, who have appropriate school-aged children.  The committee selects representatives.

G.   Non-Voting Members:  There may be a number of non-voting members that may include but not necessarily limited to:  Sergeant-at-Arms, Newsletter Editor, Marketing Director

Section 2.   Term of Office

A.   The members of the District X Committee shall serve for a period of one year beginning July 1st next following their election.   The exceptions to this rule are the Junior High/Middle Schools’ representative, the representative of the Athletic Directors’ Association (PSADA), the Girls’ Athletics,  and the School Boards’ representative who shall serve for a period of two years.

Section 3.   Vacancies

A.   When a vacancy occurs, the remaining membership of the District X Committee shall fill the non expired term, except that in the case of the School Boards representative.  The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) shall appoint an interim representative to fill the non-expired term.

Section 4.   Officers

A.   The officers of the Committee shall be a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer or a Secretary/Treasurer combined.

Section 5.   Time of Election
A.   Elections for District X Committee shall be conducted at the annual dinner/business meeting held in April of each year and officially take office July 1st.

Section 6.   Conduct of Meetings

A.   Meetings shall be conducted by the Chairperson of the District, or in his/her absence, his/her designee, using Roberts Rules of Order (revised).

Section 7.   Committee Meetings

A.   Unless otherwise notified scheduled Committee meetings are held on the first Wednesday of: 

Month    August, October, December, January, February, April, May               

Section 8.   Responsibilities and Duties of the District Committee
 (reference from PIAA constitution) PIAA ARTICLE VIIIDISTRICT COMMITTEES

Section 1. Composition.

A. The makeup of each District Committee shall be decided by the members of that particular District; provided that at least one member of the District Committee shall be a representative of the junior high/middle schools of the District, one a representative of the School Boards of the District, one a representative of the PIAA-registered officials in the District, one a representative of the Athletic Directors of the District, and one a representative of the girls’ athletic programs in the District.

B. Method of Selection.1. The member schools of a District shall elect each year from their own District, at their annual meeting, members, at their discretion, to serve for one year except the Junior High/Middle Schools’ representative, who shall serve for a period of two years, starting the following July 1st, all of whom shall be employed as a Principal, Athletic Director, and/or faculty member of a PIAA-member school or as a school administrator of a school district which has at least one member in PIAA.2. The School Board member, whose high school is a member of PIAA, shall be appointed for a term of two years by the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) from each of the PIAA geographic District areas.3. The officials’ representative shall be elected for a term of two years by the PIAA-registered officials of the District. When there is only one nominee for an officials’ representative position in a District, an election will not be conducted, and the nominee will be elected to the position. Representatives of odd numberedDistricts will be elected in the odd-numbered years and representatives of even-numbered Districts will be elected in the even-numbered years.

C. Time of Selection
All elections and appointments shall be made prior to July 1st.

D. Vacancies. When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the District Committee, the un-expired term shall be filled by the remaining members of the Committee, except that in the case of the School Boards representative, the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) shall appoint an interim representative to fill the un-expired term; and in the case of the officials’ representative(s), the Executive Director shall conduct a special election among the affected PIAA registered officials of the District to fill the un-expired term(s).

E. The members of each District Committee elected for the following year shall meet for organization purposes only, prior to July 1st.

F. If a District fails to elect a District Committee prior to July 1st, the President of PIAA shall appoint a chairman for the District who shall serve during the ensuing year. The President shall conduct an election for the remaining members of the District Committee within one month following their appointment.

Section 2. Officers

The officers of each District Committee shall be a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, or a Secretary-Treasurer combined.

Section 3. Powers and Duties of a District Committee.

A District Committee shall have the following powers and duties subject to exercise by the Board of Directors of its powers as provided in ARTICLE VII above:A. To have general control within the District over all interscholastic athletic relations and Contests in which a member school participates, subject to the provisions of the rules and regulations of the Board of Directors.
B. To elect its own officers and establish its own rules of procedure.
C. To administer the finances of the District Committee.
D. To render, within the District, an opinion on the provisions of the Constitution, By-Laws, Policies and Procedures, and Rules and Regulations of this Association.
E. To investigate, hear, and decide matters in dispute between member schools located within the District. The District will not consider matters submitted more than one year after the dispute arose. No officer or member of the District Committee shall be eligible to vote in case of a dispute involving such officer’s or member’s school or school district.
F. To receive, request, or require data on alleged violations of the Constitution, By-Laws, Policies and Procedures, and Rules and Regulations by or from schools located within the District. In assuming this responsibility, the District Committee shall not be required to assume the position of investigator.Charges of violation of the Constitution, By-Laws, Policies and Procedures, and Rules and Regulations of this Association by a member school shall be made to the Chairman of the District Committee in writing, and, if requested by the District Committee, such evidence shall be presented in the form of affidavits.
G. To make determinations as to the eligibility of contestants, and to address alleged violations of the Constitution, By-Laws, Policies and Procedures, and Rules and Regulations of this Association.
H. To fix and enforce penalties, within the District, for violation of the Constitution, and By-Laws, Policies and Procedures, and Rules and Regulations of this Association, within the limits prescribed by the By-Laws.
I. In acting pursuant to the provisions of subsections D, E, F, G, and H of this Section, the District Committee shall act at a scheduled meeting, unless the Chairman of the District Committee shall determine that immediate disposition of the matter would be in the best interests of the District or the Association. In such event, the Chairman of the District Committee shall promptly convene a Hearing Panel to hear and determine such matter as expeditiously as possible. The membership of such Hearing Panel shall consist of at least five members of the District Committee designated by the Chairman for each such matter requiring expeditious disposition. No officer or member of the District Committee shall be eligible to serve upon such Hearing Panel in any matter involving such officer’s or member’s school or school district.
J. To have general control of District Championship Contests.
K. To act with the Board of Directors in the transfer of schools from one District to another.
L. A District Committee shall have such other powers within the District as are in keeping with the growth and needs of the Association and which are consistent with the provisions of the Constitution, By-Laws, Policies and Procedures, and Rules and Regulations of PIAA.M. A majority of its members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business of the District Committee except in cases where a three-fourths or unanimous vote of the entire Committee is required. 

INTERPRETATIONS ARTICLE VII

Section 1-G and ARTICLE VIII, Section 3-E and F. October 26, 1957.The Board of Directors and District Committees will not consider any protest in Contests which are based on play situations or officials’ decisions involving interpretation or judgment of plays. In no case will the results of a Contest be reversed nor will a Contest be ordered or permitted to be replayed.  Questions regarding interpretation of rules or judgment of officials should be submitted in writing to the Executive Director.Section 3. January 30, 1998.A District Committee may authorize its executive staff to schedule hearings before the District Committee and Hearing Panels of the District Committee, to receive, request, or require data on alleged violations of the Constitution and By-Laws by or from schools located within the District, and to prepare and sign letters communicating decisions made by the District Committee and Hearing Panels.Sections 3-E and 3-I. March 24, 2006.Officers and members of the PIAA District VIII and PIAA District XII Committees are permitted to vote in disputes between two schools in such officer's or member's school district, provided that the matter does not involve the officer's or member's school, and to serve on Hearing Panels involving the officer's or member's school district, provided that the matter does not involve the officer's or member's school. 

Section 9.   District Tournaments

A.   Each of the following contested tournaments shall have a Tournament Director chosen by the District Committee:

Fall Sports:                      Soccer, Tennis, Girls Volleyball, Football, Cross Country

Winter Sports:                 Wrestling, Basketball, and Swimming

Spring Sports:                 Baseball, Softball, Tennis, Boys Volleyball, Track

In addition the following sports will have tournament committees: Football, Wrestling, Soccer and Basketball

Part Two
Rules and Regulations Of District 10 Leagues

Article I:  Name

District 10 Region Leagues