A proposed rule change to how Kansas high schools are classified for sports competitions could have a big impact on some Johnson County private schools that have had a lot of recent on-field success, including one of the state’s winningest athletic programs, Bishop Miege.
Driving the news: The Kansas State Board of Education earlier this month voted 6-4 to send the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s proposed class “multiplier” rule to the state legislature, which will have the final say on whether to enact it.
What it does: Currently, schools are classified into one of six state classes based on student enrollment, but the new proposed rule would allow for classification to be based on attendance as well as “other means.”
- The rule would create three so-called “multipliers” to be applied to private schools in order to adjust their classification.
- Those multipliers include: a school’s record of athletic success based on the number of state championships the school has won in the previous five seasons, the number of low-income students the school enrolls and the school’s location.
- The rules changes are seen as a way to address competitive imbalances in some classes.
The local impact: Maybe the rule’s most-anticipated effect would be to change the classification of Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park, which has run up an unparalleled record of athletic success playing in Class 4A in recent years, winning 118 total state championships between 2014 and 2019, including a six-year football state title streak, from 2014 to 2019.
- The proposed multiplier rule would Miege would move up to a higher state classification to play schools with larger enrollments.
- If the Legislature approves the rule, Bishop Miege would move from 4A to 5A, Miege Athletic Director Joe Schramp confirmed for the Post via email.
- Schramp said this means playoff games and matches could be more challenging for Miege’s teams.
Other schools: Saint Thomas Aquinas in Overland Park and St. James Academy in Lenexa would remain in 5A in football and move up from 5A to 6A in all other sports.
- St. James President Andy Tylicki, as well as Miege’s Schramp, both told the Post they were concerned that the multiplier rule was only being aimed at private schools.
What they’re saying: “Bishop Miege has performed well in many sports over the past 10 years,” Schramp said. “We welcome the challenge to play in 5A, but would like to see the classification multiplier be applied to both private and public schools equally. We disagree that this should only be applied to private schools when there are several public schools who have been successful in athletics over the past five years.”
What current divisions look like
Currently, Bishop Miege, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. James Academy all compete in the Eastern Kansas League against other the five Blue Valley high schools during the regular season, but when it comes time for the playoffs, they play 4A and 5A competition.
- Currently, the 4A classification that Miege plays in includes schools with a student population between 323 and 711, including other local schools like Ottawa, Louisburg, Paola, El Dorado and Eudora, according to KSHSAA’s classifications.
- Class 5A that Aquinas and St. James play in include schools with a range of 735 to 1,306 students, like Spring Hill, Turner and Blue Valley Southwest.
- Class 6A includes all five Shawnee Mission high schools, the other four Blue Valley high schools and all the Olathe and Wichita high schools.
Key quote: “Our students, coaches and parents want to compete to the best of their God-given abilities in every sport, no matter the division,” Thrasher told the Post via email. “If our school is moved to another division, that will not change our philosophy.”
