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Ad Hoc Committee brought Report on A Four Classification Option to Alignment Committee

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One of our folk have already done his own version of what this could look like

 
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.

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The VHSL Executive Committee opened discussions on changing its sports classifications for its member schools from the current six-class system to a four-class system when the current cycle expires in two more years.

Classifications would not change until the fall of the 2023-24 school year, if the Executive Committee approves a plan.


VHSL Associate Director Tom Dolan told Executive Committee members via a Zoom meeting Wednesday that an ad hoc committee appointed to review possible changes in the league’s classification system wanted the committee to review and discuss and possibly take action on the proposal.

THE PLAN
The proposal for four classifications came about in part because of lengthy travel concerns expressed by several schools, particularly in regard to regional postseason play.

The proposal is in the planning stages and could be changed drastically before it’s passed or the committee could vote down the plan altogether.

Under the plan, average daily membership (ADM) numbers for only three grades, 9-11, instead of the traditional 9-12 numbers, would be used.

The proposal says the state would continue to be divided into four regions, but each region would be divided into two sections. Each section champion would then advance to the state quarterfinals.

Dolan told the committee members the proposal is “just a concept” at this point. “Discussion is the next step,” he said.

 
Regardless of what classification system is used in 2023, the VHSL will begin allowing each classification to be its own governing body. If Class 1 wants to make a rule change in a sport due to the size of their schools, they can do so and it doesn’t affect Class 6. What works for Class 1 may not work for Class 6. If they go to three or four classifications and Class 1 wants divisional play in a certain sport, they can do it, while Class 3 or 4 doesn’t have to.

He said that the goal is to have an alignment plan finalized within the next year-and-a-half so that schools can begin making plans and make appeals if they don’t agree with where they are placed. He said it’s possible they will come up with the system they will use, but wait as long as they can to place the schools due to some school divisions doing all-virtual learning. The numbers used to place schools in classifications are the average daily membership numbers, which may be harder to determine during the pandemic. ADM numbers are the average daily attendance from the first day of school to March 31.

https://www.nvdaily.com/nvdaily/vhs...cle_83f7a1c4-dbd0-5476-aac0-8dd458f1d0f9.html
 
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