A proposal that would reclassify some private schools across Kansas for postseason sports passed its latest hurdle Wednesday.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association member districts overwhelmingly approved the measure Wednesday, which would reclassify some private schools based on the number of state championships they’ve won over the past five years, plus other population and socioeconomic factors.
More than 61% of the KSHSAA’s districts supported the proposal, 216 to 139. Iola-USD 257 was among the districts in favor.
Two more hurdles remain before the “multiplier” process goes into effect.
It first must be endorsed by the Kansas State Board of Education and then ratified by the State Legislature and signed into law.
Support was particularly strong for Class 4A schools, such as Iola, with 30 of the 36 districts (83%) in favor of the multiplier. In fact, four of the six classifications all supported the proposal.
Only the largest districts, Class 6A and Class 5A, were opposed.
Smaller districts were strongly in favor of the proposal as well: Class 3A schools voted in favor at a nearly 72% rate; Class 2A voted 67% in favor; and Class 1A at a 63% rate.
The multiplier is targeted at a more level playing field when it comes to the postseason, with private schools such as Bishop Miege of Shawnee Mission dominating the Class 4A ranks, and with smaller schools such as Pittsburg’s St. Mary’s Colgan doing the same in Class 2A.
UNDER the proposal, any private school that has won five or more state team championships in the previous five school years would have a multiplier tacked on to their enrollment numbers. That multiplier would increase slightly for even more championships.
The other weight factors include noting whether the district is within a large population, and whether a certain number of households within the district qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.
A private school would not move up more than one classification.
Of note, the multiplier impacts classification for all school activities, and would be applied to both general and football classification numbers.
Schools cannot move up more than one classification based upon the multiplier, and the multiplier would not force schools to move from 8-man football to 11-man football, or from 6-man to 8-man.
