A VHSL ad hoc committee on Tuesday approved a recommendation that the league change its current structure from six classifications to four beginning with the 2023-24 school year, and not everyone is happy about it.
The committee voted 14-6 with four abstentions to recommend to the VHSL Alignment Committee a plan that calls for compressing the current six-class system.
Under the proposal, the VHSL would still use a school’s average daily membership number to decide its classification. Instead of using the ADM numbers for grades 9-12, however, only grades 9-11 would be counted.
Schools with enrollments of 375 or below would be in Class 1; 376-751 in Class 2; 752-1199 in Class 3; and 1,200 and above in Class 4.
The proposal also allows for schools to appeal to play up or down in classification.
Examples given in the proposal as reasons a school might appeal to move down in classification were geography (a school is a geographic anomaly or has physical obstacles such as bridges and tunnels that make remaining in the assigned classification problematic); school location (providing challenges and hardships for miles traveled); and miscellaneous (number of participating athletes in a school).
The plan will be presented to the VHSL Alignment Committee for its input on July 29. Ultimate approval must come from the Executive Committee, Dolan said.
Even though the plan would not go into effect until the fall of 2023, Dolan said he hopes the Executive Committee will take action at its next two meetings so schools and regions can begin to make plans for changes that would be needed should the proposal be approved.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A VHSL ad hoc committee on Tuesday approved a recommendation that the league change its current structure from six classifications to four beginning with the 2023-24 school
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