Change is coming to the state’s high school athletic conferences.
For the past several years, the N.C. High School Athletic Association has differed from those of comparable states, dividing its more than 400 member schools into four massive classifications. Following a one-sided vote by member school principals, the NCHSAA will create at least three new classifications for the 2025-26 school year.
“For purposes of athletic competition, the number of classifications shall be based on the total number of member schools, with no classification exceeding 64 schools,” said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker at the body’s annual Board of Directors’ meeting recently, reading directly from the newly-amended Bylaw 6. “When at least 25% of the total number of member schools, or at least half the schools in a classification participate in a sport sanctioned by the NCHSAA, that [sport] shall culminate in a State Championship for that classification.”
With 432 member schools currently sorted into 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A, North Carolina differs from other states of similar size, who generally sort their members into five classifications or more. While most comparable states hold 32-team playoff brackets in most sports, North Carolina generally holds 64-team tournaments due to its large classifications, increasing travel and logistical concerns for schools and decreasing teams’ chances at a state title.
By capping classifications at 64 schools apiece, the amendment necessitates the creation of three new classifications, which will hold 32-team playoffs in most sports. After years of growing approval for expansion, including a similar January 2020 proposal favored by 68% of members, the amendment passed with overwhelming support.
“432 ballots were sent electronically,” said Tucker of the vote. “We received 384 ‘Yes’ votes ... 48 schools did not vote, if you’re tallying. However, the 384 ‘Yes’ votes represent the three-quarter ‘Yes’ votes, or 75% of the ‘Yes’ votes needed for the bylaw to be amended.”
With nearly 89% of member school principals voting in favor, the amendment will take effect during the NCHSAA’s quadrennial realignment ahead of the 2025-26 school year. The body has not expanded its classifications since 1969-70.
In addition to creating more classifications, the amendment also includes a slight change to the process for sorting member schools. Under the current alignment, which moved Franklin from 2A to 3A ahead of the 2021-22 school year, schools were sorted into classifications based on their total enrollment, Wells Fargo Cup points (awarded by the NCHSAA for schools’ State Championship performance) and Identified Student Percentage (a Department of Public Instruction measure of the number of students eligible for free school lunch). The new process will sort schools based solely on total enrollment, creating concerns that schools from more urban and affluent areas will have a leg up based on greater access to year-round and club team sports. Multiple Franklin coaches have cited Asheville’s club teams and facilities as a built-in advantage for their conference rivals from Henderson County.
Another question surrounding realignment is the role of charter and parochial schools, which also generally have access to greater resources than public schools. Earlier this spring, a bill was filed in the State Senate that would have moved such schools up one classification and prevented the expansion, but was later amended to remove those clauses. The current text of the bill, SB 636, would subject the NCHSAA to strict oversight from the state government, and awaits a vote in the State House after passing the State Senate May 3. Each of the Senate’s 30 Republicans voted in favor, while each of its 20 Democrats voted “No”.