FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. – Lawmakers in Virginia are cracking down on controversial recruitment tactics when it comes to high school athletics following the Hayfield football scandal in Fairfax County.

House Bill 1656, introduced by Virginia House Delegate Dan Helmer of Fairfax, would make it illegal for school officials, educators or coaches, to accept money or gifts to influence a student’s decision to transfer schools.

It would also prohibit the misuse of a homeless designation, stating a student is homeless when they are, in fact, not.

There was an immense amount of outrage and uproar over what happened at Hayfield — allegations of roughly 30 football players recruited from outside the boundaries of the school and some, even outside of Fairfax County — and this bill is in response to that.

However, Helmer said he has heard from school officials throughout the Commonwealth that the practice is widespread and growing, which is why there was broad concern.

“And they want to see action in order to make sure that sports remain a venue for our students to learn, learn sportsmanship, to learn citizenship, learn how to compete,” Helmer said. “We want those things in our sports and these adults who have behaved badly have taken it away from our children.”

“We don’t see what is beginning to happen in college sports begin to happen in high school sports,” he added. 

Fairfax County School Board member Mateo Dunne told FOX 5 that what happened at Hayfield should never happen again.

“Similar to what you see in college athletics or professional sports and that just has never happened at the high school level in Virginia before,” Dunne said. “Maybe ones and twos but never almost three dozen players in one season for one team and so it was an outrageous violation of the rules based on the allegations that have been made.”

And while they sort through the allegations with investigations and corrective actions in the district, this bill is an important step.  

“I think this is part of the solution, I don’t think this is a one-size-fits-all solution,” Dunne said. “But it address an important issue and ensures when student athletes are competing, they are doing so on a level playing field with rules that are pre-established and consistently and fairly enforced.”

Dunne said the Fairfax County School Board is about to hire an independent law firm to investigate all FCPS athletic transfers – hoping to have a full report in the coming months.

It’s not clear though if their findings will be made public.

Fairfax County Public Schools referred Fox 5 to this (LINK GOES HERE) corrective memo released on December 19th in response to a request for statement or interview regarding the legislation.

As for the bill, it is currently being discussed in front of the full Virginia House.