24.1.0 REGISTERED OFFICIAL - A registered official is properly enrolled with the Washington Officials Association, has paid the appropriate association/board dues and is eligible to officiate sub-varsity interscholastic contests only.
24.2.0 CERTIFIED OFFICIAL - A Certified official is a registered official who has attended a WIAA/WOA rules clinic for that sport, has attended the required number of association/board meetings, passed the sport rules test, has an acceptable criminal history background check form on file, and is eligible to officiate ANY and all levels of interscholastic competition.
24.3.0 REQUIRED NUMBER OF OFFICIALS - The WIAA Executive Board supports the number of officials required by the National Federation Rulebook for that sport. If a league elects to use less than the required number of officials, each school in that league assumes all liability and responsibility as such.
24.4.0 USE OF REGISTERED OFFICIALS - The Washington Officials Association registers officials in baseball, basketball, football, gymnastics, soccer, softball, volleyball and wrestling. Only officials registered with the Washington Officials Association or have reciprocity through another state officials association are eligible to officiate regularly scheduled contests for all sports sanctioned by WIAA.
24.4.1 STUDENTS AS OFFICIALS - A student shall not be used as an official unless the student is a member of the Washington Officials Association in that sport.
A. A student may be employed by his/her school, a recreational department, or community as a sport official without jeopardizing his/her amateur standing.
24.5.0 PROCEDURE TO USE NON-REGISTERED OFFICIALS - Should schools find it necessary to use non-registered officials, permission may be granted. In such event, application must be made to the WIAA Executive Director well in advance of the date of the contest. The required procedure for requesting use of non-registered official is as follows:
A. Date of contest(s) and officials to be used should accompany the request.
B. Documented consent of the other school approving the officials to be used should be obtained in advance of the contest(s).
C. Request sent to the WIAA Executive Director in advance of the contest.
24.5.1 In emergency situations when (1) An official’s association/board is unable to supply officials for a particular schedule or individual contest, or (2) the scheduled official fails to show up, an official may be selected from a pool of individuals who have met the following criteria:
A. Passed the current National Federation rules test for that particular sport.
B. Attended one of the pre-season officials' rules clinic for that particular sport.
24.5.2 Requests to use non-registered officials will not be approved when rationale for such a request is based solely on finances. The responsibility and liability for selection and use of any non-registered official, as an employee of the school, become that of the school.
24.5.3 For middle level only, following determination from the appropriate Board or Association,
A. Individual schools may opt to schedule non-registered officials for any contest with league approval.
B. In the event that scheduled officials (registered or non-registered) fail to show up for contests, non-registered officials, including personnel in attendance at the contest, may be used with the approval of both coaches and/or athletic directors.
24.6.0 OFFICIALS REFUSING TO SERVE - Officials refusing to serve schools or accept assignment, or an association/board refusing to serve member schools of their service area shall be disqualified from consideration for tournament assignments.
24.7.0 OFFICIALS ELIGIBLE FOR STATE TOURNAMENTS - A certified official is eligible to be nominated to a state tournament during any given year.
24.7.1 Any official nominated for a state tournament must meet the following criteria:
A. Must be recommended by the local association/board.
B. Must have officiated the minimum number of high school varsity contests during the regular season as established for that sport.
C. Must officiate a post season event in that sport prior to the state tournament.
D. Must be available to officiate throughout the duration of the tournament.
24.8.0 COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LEAGUES AND OFFICIALS ASSOCIATIONS - The WIAA and WOA recommend that athletic leagues have meetings prior to the opening of their seasons to which they invite representatives of the officials association/board that serves them so that they might discuss mutual areas of concern.
24.9.0 WIAA DISTRICT COMMITTEE ON OFFICIALS - The WIAA/WOA recommend that each WIAA District have a standing committee on the issues of officials and officiating.
24.9.1 The WIAA and WOA recommends that each WIAA District appoint a committee of three (3) to work with a committee of three (3) from the local officials association/board on mutual areas of concern.
24.10.0 FEE REVIEW COMMITTEE - The Fee Review Committee is comprised of an equal number of school administrators and officials from the Washington Officials Association. The WIAA Executive Board appoints the Committee, with officials being approved by the WOA Executive Board
24.10.1 Recommendation for changes in officiating fees, expenses or any other regulation for any or all sports must be submitted to the Fee Review Committee in writing by October 1. The Committee will review, act on the request(s) and submit recommendation(s) to the WIAA Executive Board.
24.10.2 Recommendation for changes in fees, expenses or other regulations for any sport(s) may be initiated by member school, leagues, WIAA Districts WOA Association or Board.
24.10.3 All statewide supplemental fees or expenditures must be first submitted to the Fee Review Committee.
24.10.4 Adjustment in fees will be based on school employees receiving a change (+ or -) in their salaries. The fee adjustment figure used will be reported by the Office of Financial Management in Olympia, as approved by the Washington State Legislature. If there is no change in salaries for school employees, then there shall be no change in officials’ fees.
24.10.5 Adjustments in fees shall be reviewed every odd-numbered year. If there is a percentage change in the school employees salaries during an even-numbered year, then the fee adjustments for officials shall be accumulative (e.g. school employees receive a 2% increase in 1986 and a 3% increase in 1988, the accumulative increase is 5%.)
24.10.6 If the percentage change involved cents, the increase will be rounded to the nearest half-dollar.
24.11.0 DETERMINING OFFICIALS' FEES - There shall be a re-examination of the established fee schedules every two (2) years by the Fee Review committee.
24.11.1 Re-examination would be based upon percentage changes in school employees’ salaries as determined by the state legislature. If there were no changes in school employee salaries, there would be no changes, either upward or downward, in the fee schedule.
24.11.2 The recommendations of the Fee Review Committee shall be reported to the WIAA Executive Board.
24.11.3 Changes in officials' fee schedule are to be approved by the WIAA Executive Board.
24.11.4 The officials' fees for all league play-offs and district competition will be $5.00 more than paid during the regular season in that classification for those sports that have registered officials and established fees, with the exception of wrestling and gymnastics.
24.11.5 The official's fees for all state competition will be $7.00 more than the 4A fee paid during the regular season.
24.12.0 OFFICIALS MILEAGE - Round-trip mileage will be paid at the rate established by the WIAA Executive Board for standing and special committee members. Mileage for any school year shall be consistent with the allowed amount set by the IRS as of March 1 of each year.
24.12.1 The number of vehicles required to supply officials for contest will be negotiated between school/leagues and the officials’ associations/boards.
24.13.0 OFFICIALS’ FEES - Established fees for middle level and high school regular season and high school state tournament/meets are listed in Appendix 7.