State lawmakers to vote on WIAA open records, meetings laws

MADISON — An Assembly committee is slated to vote Wednesday on a bill that would subject Wisconsin's high school athletics association to open records and meetings laws.

The bill from Marinette Republican Rep. John Nygren follows an outcry over an email the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletics Association sent in December requesting school administrators intervene at common negative fan chants like "scoreboard" and "air ball." The story gained national attention after a high school basketball player was suspended for criticizing the WIAA's stance on Twitter using profanity.

Nygren said Wednesday that debacle could have been avoided if people had more insight into rules' development.

WIAA Executive Director Dave Anderson called the legislation a knee-jerk response to a social media storm and emphasized that the association is a private nonprofit and receives no public funding.