IHSA changes classification policies
The Illinois High School Association has announced changes to its policies for waivers of the enrollment multiplier on non-boundaried schools and how classification cutoffs are determined in each sport for the 2011-12 school year.
The IHSA board of directors approved the recommendations at Monday’s regularly scheduled meeting and they were announced Thursday.
In the fall of 2005, the IHSA instituted an enrollment multiplier of 1.65 to its non-boundaried schools to determine their postseason classification. The new multiplier waiver policy adopted by the IHSA board has set up a criteria for an automatic waiver of the multiplier which will be applied on a sport-by-sport basis.
Each program’s advancement in IHSA tournaments the previous six years will be taken into account. Schools will no longer have to apply for a waiver that covers all athletic programs at one school.
The new policy grants an automatic multiplier waiver to a program that has not done any of the following in the last six school years — win a state trophy, qualify for a state finals tournament, win a sectional, win two or more regionals, finish second or third two or more times in a track and field sectional, win a first-round football playoff game or finish in the top 10 in the state music sweepstakes.
IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman said only one waiver was granted in the 2010-11 school year from a handful of applicants.
“The need rose out of the fact the waiver policy we implemented had very little impact on schools,” Hickman said during a conference call Thursday afternoon. “The policy, while good-intentioned and well thought-out, was probably too conservative.
“We’ll grant hundreds of sport-by-sport waivers under this process without a school having to do anything.”
St. Viator would receive a waiver in girls basketball with only one regional title in the last six years and be in Class 3A in 2011-12. But the boys basketball program’s 2010 sectional title would be subject it to the multiplier and place it in 4A next year.
“We felt if you won two regionals in a six-year period you’re demonstrating you can compete at that level,” Hickman said. “If you are able to win a sectional you are more clearly demonstrating you are able to compete. Or if you win a playoff (football) game the multiplier wasn’t overly punitive to you.”
Schools still have the option of not taking a waiver and can also compete in a higher class.
Hickman said changes in the classification system came from imbalances caused by most sports and activities using the same set of enrollment cutoffs. Each sport will now have its own set of enrollment cutoffs.
Hickman said last year in boys golf a total of 503 teams competed in the three-class state series. Nearly half (245) were assigned to 1A with 111 in 2A and 147 in 3A.
“We felt that was an inequity we needed to address,” Hickman said.