06/09/2026
Valentine School Board adjusts extracurricular policy for homeschool, private school students
VALENTINE, Neb. — Homeschool and private school students in Valentine will face fewer academic requirements to participate in some extracurricular activities following a policy change approved Monday night.
The Valentine School Board revised its extracurricular participation policy to require five credit hours — or one class — for all students participating in regulated, non-regulated and middle school activities.
Regulated activities, which include high school sports, speech, debate and play production, will remain unchanged. Under Nebraska law, schools cannot require non-public school students to take more than five credit hours to participate in those activities.
The change primarily impacts non-regulated and middle school activities, which had previously required 10 credit hours, or two classes, for participation.
Superintendent Mike Halley said a new state law requires schools to follow the recommendations of each governing organization for non-regulated activities. For groups such as FFA, that standard is five credit hours.
For consistency, Halley recommended aligning all activity requirements at five credit hours, a move the board approved.
The district’s previous decision to increase the requirement for non-regulated and middle school activities sparked controversy within the homeschool and private school community last year. At the time, some board members supported the higher requirement, noting that public school students cannot be failing two classes and still participate in activities.
Non-regulated activities are those not governed by the Nebraska School Activities Association and include organizations such as FFA and FBLA, as well as all middle school sports.
