TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The Kansas State High School Activities Association’s executive committee has approved two proposals to prevent its member and approved schools from discriminating against sports officials.

Tuesday’s proposals were in response to St. Mary’s Academy near Topeka refusing to allow official Michelle Campbell to work a boys’ basketball game last month because she was a woman.

The nine-member board unanimously approved proposals to add a position statement to its handbook and a rule requiring member schools to accept qualified officials regardless of race, gender or any other factor that could be construed as discriminatory.

The rule also would be added to the application forms for approved schools, which aren’t KHSAA members but can use its officials.

“I was always positive that the Kansas State High School Activities Association would take this matter seriously and make the appropriated decision,” Campbell said.

“You can say I’m pleased with what their motions are today to protect future officials. Not just myself, but any official.”

The flap started on Feb. 2, when St. Mary’s Academy officials told Campbell she wouldn’t be allowed to officiate a boys basketball game because of her gender.

The controversy caught national attention and made St. Mary’s the target of women’s groups and newspaper editorials.

It also made KSHSAA officials take a harder look at their handbook, which had no provisions preventing the discrimination of officials.

The association’s executive committee tried to address the issue by creating a position statement that mirrors its mission statement, giving officials the same rights and opportunities as the organization’s member schools.

Gary Musselman, KSHSAA’s executive director, will work with the association’s legal department to come up with exact wording for the new rule, then forward it to its board of directors. The 77-member board, which approves all changes to the organization’s handbook, will then vote on the new rule at its meeting on April 11.

Once the rule is in the handbook, the executive committee will then vote to add it to the approved school’s application form. The new rule would go into effect for the 2008-09 school year.

“Going forward, the focus of the association is to ensure appropriate rules and policies are adopted to ensure equal opportunity for all of our athletic officials,” Musselman said. “Today’s actions by the executive board are the appropriate steps to move toward that goal.”

Campbell attended the meeting with her young nephew and Darin Putthoff, who was supposed to work the St. Mary’s game but walked off in protest after learning Campbell had been banned. They were introduced to the executive board, but did not speak until after the meeting was over.

St. Mary’s officials were invited to KSHSAA headquarters to tell their side of the story, but did not attend. The school has refused repeated interview requests, instead referring people to a statement on its Web site from its school headmaster, saying adolescent boys should have male role models and girls’ role models should be women.

The new rule would require all member and approved schools to use affiliated officials, though it likely won’t affect St. Mary’s much because the school typically only has a handful of games against approved schools.

“You’re sort of having apples mixed with oranges when you have approved schools,” Musselman said. “They’re not obligated to do everything eligibility wise, numbers of games wise, even the rules of play. So I think we continually have to evaluate what do we need to do to make sure approved schools and member schools can interact successfully.”

It seems unlikely St. Mary’s officials will accept the new rules given their hard stance on the issue in the past. If they do, there’s one official who wouldn’t hesitate coming back.

“If their rules change, if their belief system changed, I would say yes,” Campbell said. “Sure, I would go call at St. Mary’s because it’s about the kids. It’s not about the adults, it’s not about my personal feelings. It’s about those kids and that’s what they want. They want a ballgame and they can’t have a ballgame without officials.”

AP-ES-03-11-08 1744EDT