LINCOLN, Neb. - A state senator says if the governing body for high school activities in Nebraska receives tax money, it should be held accountable by the public and not just by the schools it serves.

Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery, as chairman of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, said he plans to lead a study of the Nebraska School Activities Association to determine whether the organization should be required to adhere to state sunshine laws. The study could lead to proposed legislation in 2010, he said.

"If the NSAA spends a nickel of public money, they have to be subject to open-meetings laws, they have to be open to public-records laws. They have to be completely transparent," Avery said. "Right now, they aren't."

The NSAA, formed in 1910 and made up of 312 member schools, oversees high school sports and other activities. The association operates as a private nonprofit and, as such, is not required to follow open-records or meetings laws - a position that has been supported by the state Attorney General's Office.

Avery and a group calling itself "Parents for Students" have been scrutinizing the NSAA's practices for two years. The group of about two dozen parents originally formed out of concern over the NSAA's "dual participation" policy, which generally bars athletes from participating with sports teams not affiliated with schools during that sport's high school season.

The head of the group, Laura Holmes of Omaha, said she began having broader concerns about the NSAA after the organization denied the group information it had sought regarding dual-participation waivers granted over the years. Group members in Lincoln enlisted Avery's help.

"We're not out to get anybody. This is not a 'got ya' activity," Avery said. "It's an appropriate function of a government committee, which has the responsibility to make sure public entities are open and accountable and transparent."

NSAA executive director Jim Tenopir acknowledged that the NSAA has told parents no when they've asked for access to association records. He said the NSAA readily provides information to member schools upon request. He said he typically directs parents to go through their school to make a request.

"We're not a parents' association. We're an association of schools," he said.

Tenopir disputes that the NSAA uses tax dollars, even if member schools use tax money to pay dues and fees.

"As soon as that leaves the school, that is not tax money," Tenopir said. "We don't have an ability to set a levy. So if we have a shortfall, we're in trouble."

Tenopir gave an example of a school administrator using tax money to buy a screwdriver at a hardware store.

"Are those tax funds the hardware store is accepting and, if so, should they open their books to the public?" Tenopir said. "When the school buys textbooks, you don't expect the textbook company to have to abide by open-meetings laws."

An Associated Press review of the NSAA's most recent International Revenue Service Form 990, which all nonprofits must file annually, showed that the NSAA had more than $3.6 million in revenue and $3.4 million in expenses in 2007.

Tenopir's salary was $141,625, and his seven assistants were paid between $59,417 and $98,871. The NSAA paid a lobbyist $25,200 to monitor the goings-on in the Legislature.

The association, headquartered in a spacious $4.2 million Lincoln building it leases from the city, generates most of its revenue through admissions to district and state-level competitions.

The NSAA also receives from each school $40 in annual dues and an additional $45 for each activity or sport that is governed by the NSAA and offered by the school.

Many other states' high school athletic and activities associations are run in similar fashion, as nonprofits with little or no oversight by state departments of education or other agencies.

Avery said he plans to hold public hearings on the NSAA across the state this summer and have staff research the history of the NSAA and whether the association has ever received public money.

"They," he said, "aren't going to be able to deny us information."