No go on proposed football restructure

Trickle-down effect was not what Kansas schools wanted.
On Monday, the Kansas State High School Activities Association released the results of statewide vote by Class 4A, 3A, 2-1A schools on a proposal to restructure Kansas football classifications. It failed to pass.
Iola High, a Class 4A school, voted for the proposal to reduce Class 4A from 64 to 48 teams, creating a trickle-down effect for Classes 3A and 2-1A. The proposal passed at the KSHSAA’s April Board of Directors meeting then was sent out for a vote by all schools it would effect.
“We voted for the proposal as a collective,” said David Grover, Iola High out-going principal. “It was a 4A impact vote and it did pass (39 yes, 25 no) with 4A schools. The smaller schools did not vote for it.”
Grover, who is now the superintendent at USD 268 in Cheney, pointed out that if a school did not send in a ballot, it was counted as a no vote. Cheney and Goodland are the smallest 4A schools in Kansas.
A quick telephone survey of the Register area schools — Humboldt, Marmaton Valley, Uniontown, Southern Coffey County, Yates Center and Crest, voted and voted no on the proposal. All those contacted had the same reasons but also recognize that the Kansas Class 4A situation needs to be addressed.
Marmaton Valley High principal Jeremy Boldra and Southern Coffey County superintendent/principal Mike Kastle serve on the KSHSAA Board of Directors as league representatives.
“We didn’t see it benefiting our classification here (at MVHS),” Boldra said. “But from the KSHSAA board of directors standpoint, we felt it was good to let the schools vote on it.”
Kastle echoed statements by Humboldt Superintendent K.B. Cress, Yates Center Superintendent Rusty Arnold, Uniontown and Crest athletic directors Jim Mason and Brent Smith — “The state needs to go the other direction (up). There are better solutions out there we just have to find them.”
Class 4A has 64 schools ranging in enrollment from 197 students to 564. There are 64 schools at Class 3A (120-195) and 41 (69-118) in Class 2-1A 11-man football. Class 1A’s 8-man numbers are 104 teams in two divisions.
The state’s Class 6A (1016-1801) and Class 5A (564-1005) each has 32 schools.
Addressing the disparities among the state’s football classifications is at hand. Maybe we’re looking at Class 7A in Kansas.