Following a one-week delay, the Georgia High School Association on Monday divided its 440 schools into six classifications that will be used next year.
Sixty-five schools, most from the metro Atlanta area, will compose the GHSA’s first Class AAAAAA group. The rest of the breakdown is 71 schools for AAAAA, 71 AAAA, 70 AAA, 66 AA, and 97 A (including 71 that play football).
“The toughest part is yet to come, and that’s putting the schools into regions,” said Ralph Swearngin, GHSA executive director. “Breaking down the numbers for the classifications was fairly easy. The [reclassification committee] did eyeball some situations. Whenever we divide classifications, we want to draw the lines where there is a little bit of a natural break between the [full-time equivalent] numbers.
"If you have an eight- to 10-student difference between placing a school in one classification or another, that’s better than dividing a line where there is only a difference of one student. But sometimes you have to do that.”
Schools will have until Dec. 5 to decide whether or not to play up in a higher classification. The schools will be placed in regions on Dec. 6. After the appeals process, the new regions are expected to be finalized on Jan. 10.
The school breakdown, which was scheduled for release last week, was approved on Monday after the GHSA’s executive committee rescinded a policy that allowed schools to drop certain special-needs students from their FTE, or overall student enrollment.
“I think we’ll continue to look at that policy for a couple of years, but, for right now, it will not be a part of what we do with this reclassification,” Swearngin said.
A mixed reaction came from some metro schools to Monday’s realignment. . For example, Morrow High School is the smallest school (1,431 students) in Class AAAAAA, which is led by Mill Creek with 2,766 students. Morrow narrowly missed placement in the next lowest class, AAAAA, where Allatoona is the largest school with 1,426 students.
“We were 0-10 in football this past year in Class AAAA and now they’re going to have us skip all the way up to Class AAAAAA? For what purpose?” Morrow football coach J. Livingston said. “We’ll have to deal with it, though. We won’t back down from the competition, and we’ll do whatever we need to do to succeed.”
Marist, which was placed in Class AA with 591 students, has yet to decide whether it will appeal to play in a higher classification. Rivals St. Pius, Woodward and Blessed Trinity are in Class AAA, while Tucker and Dunwoody are in Class AAAAA.
“Traditionally we do play up,” Marist athletics director Tommy Marshall said. “We’ll have a meeting with the coaches, and everybody will have a different opinion I’m sure. Then we’ll meet with the administration. I’m not sure what our plans will be right now.”
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