GHSA reclassification helped cut private school titles in half in 2024-25

The totals were not surprising.

The GHSA in 2024 implemented a Class 3A-A private division that called for private schools below Class 4A to compete in private-only state playoffs in most sports.

Curt Miller, the chairman of the GHSA’s reclassification committee, said the objective was fairness, not curtailing private schools’ success, though most private schools don’t see it that way.

“The objective of the reclass committee was not to decrease private state championships but to ensure our playoffs are more apples to apples between our schools,” Miller said. “I think with the number of schools that advanced deep or even won titles for the first time in decades would prove that the A-3A model did work.

“There are schools that made the elite eight or final four in certain sports for the first time since the ’60s and ’70s. I could rattle off many situations like that, including Butler boys basketball, Murray County, Hardaway and Union County, and that is just in basketball. There are examples of that in most every sport. Those schools had seasons that haven’t been equaled in a very long time, and how special was that for those communities?”

With no private schools in their paths, nine public schools in classes 3A, 2A or A won their first state titles in any sport in more than 20 years. They were Butler (boys basketball), Carver-Atlanta (girls track and field), Claxton (girls track and field), Early County (boys tennis), Hardaway (girls basketball), LaGrange (boys tennis), Monroe Area (girls track and field), Savannah (boys basketball) and Troup (baseball).

Three small charter schools that opened since 2007 won their first state titles ever. Those were B.E.S.T. Academy (boys basketball), KIPP Atlanta Collegiate (boys track and field) and Elite Scholars Academy (volleyball).

“I do think a competitive balance was struck in classifications A-3A,” GHSA president Jim Finch said. “The percentage of private schools winning state championships is not as disproportionate to the percentage of private schools within the GHSA. I think we accomplished much of what was requested from the A-through-3A schools whose enrollment is typically within one ZIP code. … The private schools in A-3A aren’t particularly thrilled about it, but those other schools are.”

The public-private debate

Private school leaders agree with Finch on the last part. Private schools despise the private-playoff division, but not for trophy-driven reasons, Athens Academy athletic director Kevin Petroski said.

“With the current format, fewer state championships was a given, so glamorizing it seems to only add fuel to the fire,” Petroski said. “I can’t speak for all private schools, but I’m confident the vast majority don’t focus our energies on winning championships as much as providing a quality and rewarding experience for our student-athletes and school community. However, it seems to be obvious there are member schools that place a much higher value on winning championships regardless of how some member schools may be treated.”

The private-public debate in Georgia high schools has roared all century.

Public schools believe private schools have an unfair advantage because they have selective admissions without school boundaries to limit their prospective students. Most private schools concede that, but they believe it’s unfair to single them out when other schools also have advantageous resources that set them above their competition. They believe the goal should be keeping private and public schools together, not segregating them.

Private-only state playoffs are not new, as the GHSA also had them from 2012-13 to 2021-22, but in those years, they applied only to Class A schools. The recent change had a much bigger impact.

The new 3A-A setup brought in some bigger private schools such as Greater Atlanta Christian and Lovett, which together won 38 state titles the previous four years in classes 5A to 2A. Wesleyan, a winner of 18 Class 3A titles the previous three years, is also in the mix. Those three schools won nine of those 30 titles this academic year.

That’s another objection private schools have with the 3A-A division — enrollment disparity. Lovett and GAC have more than 600 students. A handful of GHSA private schools have fewer than 100. Public schools don’t deal with those kinds of enrollment mismatches.

The new private division wasn’t the only difference-maker this year. Only eight private schools played higher than 3A, and seven of them — all but Woodward Academy — competed in Class 4A. That meant that Westminster and Marist, the state’s all-time winningest sports programs, were in the same classification, competing against each other instead of dominating separate classes.

Westminster won four state titles in 2024-25 after averaging 8.3 championships the previous four academic years. Marist won three state titles in 2024-25, down from its 6.5 average in that span.

Those seven private schools won nine of the 22 Class 4A championships. Finch said 4A schools have begun inquiring about a second private division for the bigger private schools.

That’s the last thing private schools want to hear.

“For those who claim this reclassification succeeded, it is important to define what ‘succeeded’ entails in this context,” Mount Vernon athletic director Brad Dehem said. “Isolating all private schools regardless of their competitive strength or the success of their athletic programs? Failing to address the increasingly growing number of city, charter, county or public schools that permit recruitment beyond their designated zoning areas? I would argue that the current model did not help public schools that continue to finish in the lower half or bottom of their classification. It also did not prevent the perennial public school powers from succeeding in their own classification.”

The current format will remain for 2025-26, but the GHSA won’t finalize the next two-year cycle until fall.

Almost all private schools and many public schools support a competitive-balance model that would allow the private schools to compete with public schools again and classify schools based on schools’ all-sports performance. GHSA executive director Tim Scott and his office endorse this plan, which would put public and private schools together again.

But it’s the vote of the GHSA’s representatives that counts. Public schools make up 90% of GHSA membership.

“The most-asked question I’ve received throughout this reclass cycle is ‘Can we just keep the current model we have?‘” Finch said. “Along with (the state championship) data, I think that’s a pretty strong indicator of what this reclass cycle has accomplished in its first year.”

Percentage of GHSA championships won by private schools since 1969-70:

2024-25 - 16.4% (30 of 183)

2023-24 - 31.0% (58 of 187)

2022-23 - 32.1% (60 of 187)

2021-22 - 30.8% (57 of 185)

2020-21 - 32.8% (59 of 180)

2019-20 - 25.0% (23 of 92)*

2018-19 - 25.6% (43 of 168)

2017-18 - 27.6% (45 of 163)

2016-17 - 25.2% (40 of 159)

2015-16 - 33.8% (45 of 133)

2014-15 - 36.6% (53 of 145)

2013-14 - 37.1% (52 of 140)

2012-13 - 36.7% (51 of 139)

2011-12 - 32.1% (34 of 106)

2010-11 - 32.4% (34 of 105)

2009-10 - 32.0% (33 of 103)

2008-09 - 38.2% (39 of 102)

2007-08 - 32.0% (33 of 103)

2006-07 - 33.0% (35 of 106)

2005-06 - 39.0% (41 of 105)

2004-05 - 32.0% (33 of 103)

2003-04 - 39.6% (40 of 101)

2002-03 - 34.3% (35 of 102)

2001-02 - 32.7% (33 of 101)

2000-01 - 37.8% (37 of 98)

1999-00 - 32.9% (26 of 79)

1998-99 - 33.3% (25 of 75)

1997-98 - 28.0% (21 of 75)

1996-97 - 32.9% (23 of 70)

1995-96 - 34.3% (23 of 67)

1994-95 - 29.4% (20 of 68)

1993-94 - 30.8% (20 of 65)

1992-93 - 31.7% (19 of 60)

1991-92 - 28.8% (17 of 59)

1990-91 - 32.1% (18 of 56)

1989-90 - 33.9% (19 of 56)

1988-89 - 28.8% (17 of 59)

1987-88 - 24.6% (14 of 57)

1986-87 - 25.0% (15 of 60)

1985-86 - 24.2% (15 of 62)

1984-85 - 23.1% (15 of 65)

1983-84 - 22.0% (13 of 59)

1982-83 - 30.0% (18 of 60)

1981-82 - 24.6% (14 of 57)

1980-81 - 23.2% (13 of 56)

1979-80 - 21.1% (12 of 57)

1978-79 - 16.0% (8 of 50)

1977-78 - 16.3% (8 of 49)

1976-77 - 9.1% (4 of 44)

1975-76 - 13.6% (6 of 44)

1974-75 - 19.5% (8 of 41)

1973-74 - 17.1% (7 of 41)

1972-73 - 10.0% (4 of 40)

1971-72 - 28.6% (12 of 42)

1970-71 - 23.3% (10 of 43)

1969-70 - 11.6% (5 of 43)

*Spring sports canceled because of COVID-19