GHSA votes to separate Class A public, private schools for playoffs and championships
By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC
MACON — The landscape of high school athletics in Georgia took an unprecedented turn on Tuesday when the executive committee of the Georgia High School Association voted overwhelmingly to hold separate public and private school playoffs and championships in all Class A sports, beginning this fall.
The resolution, which was introduced by Charlton County athletic director Jesse Crews, passed by a vote of 37-12, with one abstention. The result will be two, 16-team tournaments – one for public schools and one for private schools — that should keep more than 30 of Georgia’s smaller high schools from leaving the GHSA and forming their own sports league. Representatives from those schools believed there has been a competitive imbalance between public and private schools at the Class A level because of private schools’ ability to accept any student without geographic restriction.
The GHSA’s recently approved region assignments will remain in place because they had been approved prior to Tuesday’s vote, which means public and private schools will continue to compete against each other during the regular season.
GHSA officials said they will meet with various members in upcoming months to best figure out how to seed the 16-team brackets. Ralph Swearngin, executive director of the GHSA, said the process will be developed by the schools that are directly impacted by the vote, with a March timeline. It is unclear whether the public and private Class A champions will play a plus-one game when the five other classifications play for titles at the Georgia Dome in December.
“I think we have enough good minds [within the GHSA] to figure it out,” Swearngin said.
Tuesday’s vote apparently ends the movement to create the Georgia Public Schools Association. That group, which was attracting interest from more than 40 small, mostly rural, schools, held its last meeting on Monday. More than 83 representatives in the room were asked to cast ballots by Jan. 24 on what their schools planned to do in response to whatever the GHSA voted to do on Tuesday. The choices were commit to pull out of the GHSA and join the GPSA, stay in the GHSA or remain undecided.
Wilcox County principal Chad Davis, a leader in the movement, was prepared to vote for seceding from the GHSA. He seemed relieved that his school will not have to.
“I don’t think that there is the need for [the GPSA] now,” Davis said. “That’s my personal opinion, but we’re going to check with other schools that were involved in the process in the next few weeks.
“I’m very surprised by the [GHSA] vote,” he said. “I didn’t think they would do anything.”
Judging by the three-to-one margin of the vote and pleas from several executive committee members to preserve the current membership makeup of the GHSA, it appears as if the GPSA movement had a significant impact.
“I don’t think of this as a victory,” Davis said. “I’m just pleased.”
“[The vote] was a little stronger than I thought it would be,” Swearngin said. “I think there are a variety of reasons why people voted how they did. I think the pleas for unity being in the best interest of everyone was a factor.”
One such vote came from Albert “Pat” Blenke, a Georgia Department of Education Administrator who sits on the GHSA executive committee. During the meeting, he said: “This is one of the biggest decisions we have to make as an organization. Eventually, the state legislators are going to get tired of hearing the complaints from their constituents, and they will do something. And as sure as I’m standing here, whatever they do will not be beneficial to the schools.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand,” Blenke said.
But after the vote he added, “Every decision you make is going to have unintended consequences.”
Others expressed concern over the vote, as well.
“Our biggest thing is we feel the GHSA is one of the top four high school associations in the nation, and I think we just made ourselves weaker. The best should play the best,” said Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy athletic director Scott Queen, who voted no. “We want to compete against the Lincoln County’s and the Clinch County’s, even though we haven’t beaten them yet. I just think this is going to be very hard to pull off.”
Buford athletic director Dexter Wood cast a “no” vote as well, which was aimed at the process, more than the resolution.
“My chief point of contention is that as an executive committee member we’re seeing this [proposal] for the first time and we’re being asked to make such a huge decision,” Wood said. “I would like to have had more time.”
Wood is also concerned that the next “target” will be single-city school districts with one high school, similar to Buford and Calhoun. Those schools have begun to come under fire for their ability to attract county students and allow them to enroll for a minimal amount of tuition – usually around $200 per month.
“It seems to be that the time has come where we are trying to level the playing field everywhere, and that’s such a relative matter,” Wood said. “There are definite differences between private schools and a city high school.”
AJC staff writer Michael Carvell contributed to this story.
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417 comments Add your comment
Lovely
January 12th, 2012
12:01 pm
Does it matter what the kids want? GHSA just did away with a State Championship in clas A.
kmn
January 12th, 2012
12:10 pm
yes all the country boys lived in the rual area. the city boys got to pick which ones from the ymca to go to the country and compete
Rockmart Needs a Coach
January 12th, 2012
12:12 pm
Buford’s real advantage boils down to dense population in Gwinnette Co, their coaching and booster support. Many other AA schools have coaching and booster support, but the population density is unique. They too can be beat, but not often.
What’s the beef private schools, your road to a ring just got easier.
kmn
January 12th, 2012
12:20 pm
buford is not limited to gwinnett . they can have players from any county
Wondering
January 12th, 2012
12:40 pm
Like I said earlier, my kids went to public elementary and middle school and then private high school. No one cared in the public school when we moved to private school. But when my kids excelled in their chosen athletics (not football) then we sure were contacted by the public school begging us to come back! All schools recruit, both public and private! I believe GHSA did not take into account what this will do to the other sports except football. Sounds to me like a bunch of football coaches hated getting beat by private schools. This decision has huge ramifications on the smaller sports. BTW, I dont have a beef in this matter, the private school my kids go to is not single A.
T
January 12th, 2012
12:48 pm
Rockmart: You spout your ignorance in every blog. The private schools are not the ones that wanted this. The public schools are the ones running away from the competition. Private schools are not looking for “easy”. Never mind, you will never move past your ignorance.
Rockmart Needs a Coach
January 12th, 2012
12:59 pm
T-the privates know in the end they will lose credibility and good they don’t deserve it since they know what’s best. Must bug you, eh ?
Rockmart Needs a Coach
January 12th, 2012
1:01 pm
kmm the relative short commute plays in, and you are right about other counties. There was a joke about 2 kids living in Buford that drive to Calhoun daily.
T
January 12th, 2012
1:10 pm
Thanks for proving my point there “Rock”.
Skip Townsend
January 12th, 2012
1:24 pm
I vote for the following
Publics schools should play public schools their size to the Georgia Dome
City schools should play city schools their size to the Georgia Dome.
Private schools should play private schools (size may or may not matter) to the Georgia Dome.
former observer
January 12th, 2012
1:29 pm
Sounds like Savannah Christian has a bunch of cry baby parents. Just saying. Schedule Boles-Jacksonville if you guys are so darn good. They are not limited to a small school district like Georgia public schools. hahaha.
David
January 12th, 2012
1:33 pm
I have a bigger beef with the 21 or so “city” schools in the state. Especially the ones that are in the same GSHA region with neighboring public schools that lose players to the city school each and every year. How come nobody has anything to say about that?
GHSA Stripes
January 12th, 2012
1:39 pm
SHUT UP AND PLAY BALL , the impact is minimal as only two teams would have played the 5th round of playoffs anyway.
ScottS, Buford is not the county seat of either county that it spans (Gwinnett and Hall). There are subdivisions well into Hall County that have been annexed into the City of Buford.
JBrown
January 12th, 2012
1:40 pm
T:
“The public schools are the ones running away from the competition”.
WRONG. The public schools are the ones playing by the public school eligibilty rules (state mandated) while the privates are playing by their own set of rules.
yellowjacket
January 12th, 2012
1:45 pm
Private schools should use the multiplier. City Schools should play one level higher and the small public schools should stop crying. Happy?
Steely Dan
January 12th, 2012
1:47 pm
“There are subdivisions well into Hall County that have been annexed into the City of Buford”. How many public high schools in Hall and Gwinett counties are also within Bufords High Schools boundries?
That’s my problem with “City” schools
Not picking on Buford either. They just also happen to have fantastic coaching as well
T
January 12th, 2012
1:50 pm
JB: You have spouted another myth to hide behind and run away from playing for a true state championship. The privates that are afraid to compete are not in the GHSA. Congrats, you publics got what you wanted. You do not have to compete with all the like size schools any more.
T
January 12th, 2012
1:57 pm
Go back and read through the 6 pages of posts. There is not one private school person that wanted this to happen. The public school advocates are the ones happy with the EASIER road to claim a FALSE championship.
Agitator
January 12th, 2012
2:05 pm
This is for all the privates who recruit and play by their own set of rules
nah-nah-nah-nah
nah-nah-nah-nah
hey-hey-hey
good bye!
Kyle
January 12th, 2012
2:07 pm
T:
Change FALSE to Fair and you have it correct.
T
January 12th, 2012
2:12 pm
Change “fair” to “chicken shat” and it is the truth.
Jay Crawford
January 12th, 2012
2:13 pm
I for one think it’s great that the GHSA put the privates in their place. Play by public school elligibilty rules are play among yourselves.
Rockmart Needs a Coach
January 12th, 2012
2:14 pm
It is a good vote, if you don’t like it, start a private league, ha.
Jay Crawford
January 12th, 2012
2:23 pm
You are obviously in the minority there Mr. T
T
January 12th, 2012
2:23 pm
The kids, public and private, do not want this. They are the ones that lose here.
T
January 12th, 2012
2:25 pm
Hey Jay, if we private schools are in the minority, what are you scared of?
Jay Crawford
January 12th, 2012
2:37 pm
T:
The “kids” don’t make the rules. The adults at GHSA do! They are our governming body.
The kids can still play in the regular season schedules.
I am not afraid of anything. I just like to see everyone play by the same set of player eligibility rules (come playoff time). That’s the only way you can have a TRUE state championship.
T
January 12th, 2012
2:47 pm
What ever makes you sleep better. It is the “adults” like you that ruin it for the kids with your dumbing down and hurt egos. This teaches the kids the exact same thing that our POTUS and public schools teach them. If you can’t compete, lower the bar.
Rockmart Needs a Coach
January 12th, 2012
3:01 pm
If there were no private schools and parents got involved in the problems of public school rather than just pay their way out — public schools would improve. Most kids in public schools have folks who can’t just throw money out, they apply themselves in the schools to make them better. The folks who are giving up are the private school parents.
T
January 12th, 2012
3:04 pm
BRILLIANT! Thanks for the laugh.
GHSA Stripes
January 12th, 2012
3:28 pm
Steely Dan,
North Gwinnett, Mill Creek, Flowery Branch, and West Hall that I know of. Possibly Lanier as well.
bucket
January 12th, 2012
3:34 pm
Really Rockmart? I am giving up because I sacrifice over $10k of my own money every year so that I can give my kids the best possible education? I don’t look down on anyone that can’t do that, but at the end of the day I am responsible for my kids. You may live in an area that has great public schools, but I don’t. I am not throwing money out because I refuse to throw my kids into a failed public school system. (In my area.) I am not going to sacrifice my kids in an attempt to “make them better.” And speaking of throwing money out, I still have to help pay for the failed schools in my area that I don’t even use.
GHSA Stripes
January 12th, 2012
3:40 pm
I’m from a public school background. I was excited to go to 6 classifications as it gave my association another chance at a championship game. This public/private split in A gives us yet another shot at a championship game. I do wish something could have been done that would have kept the two groups together. At the moment, I am just involved in football and I love it. I have worked and volunteered for games that were public vs public, public vs private and private vs private. I enjoyed all of them.
When I think back to the crossover games on the Varsity level, I have Public with 2 wins and Private with 1 win. Granted the Private win was in the playoffs. I will be happy to call any game that I am assigned to. It’s football. When I played, my team was coming off a 1-9 season. We started out 3-0 but the lack of numbers and injuries mounted up and we finished 4-6. It was still fun. I was not thinking about a state championship, but that was just me. There is way too much bickering on this issue, be it here in a forum or be it from the administrators and coaches at the schools. Let’s play ball.
bucket
January 12th, 2012
3:41 pm
@ T – you are exactly correct in your assessment. This argument has nothing to do with fairness for the kids or making sure kids get a good education. This situation is all about the ego of coaches and adults just like them. What about all the public school kids who won’t even get a chance to play in the playoffs because you have to have 16 public schools and 16 private schools make the playoffs in Class A? I would have to go back and check the records from last year, but I bet if these rules had been in place last year some public schools would have missed the playoffs.
GHSA Stripes
January 12th, 2012
3:44 pm
bucket,
Paying for the public school is never going to change. Even those with no children pay for the public schools as part of their county/city property tax. I realize it sucks to have the double dip. Lobbying the county commissioners would likely be futile for you as well.
Typcial GHSA baloney
January 12th, 2012
3:46 pm
The GHSA dumps on the private schools in Class A while totally ignoring the Buford’s of the state. I guess a bunch of county schools need to get together and threaten to pull out of the GHSA.
GHSA Stripes
January 12th, 2012
3:46 pm
I “think” it was 12 private and 20 public
jvillebil
January 12th, 2012
3:48 pm
Okay so I went on line to look up Buford City Schools and to see where their boundaries lie. Does this city cross over boundaries into multiple counties as it seems? I’ll wait for an answer then make a comment.
GHSA Stripes
January 12th, 2012
3:50 pm
jvillebil,
Buford City is in Gwinnett and Hall Counties
jvillebil
January 12th, 2012
3:52 pm
Thanks, So do you have to live within the city limit boundaries to attend the high school?
bucket
January 12th, 2012
3:54 pm
@ GHSA Stripes – you are correct and usually I wouldn’t complain about that too much. But this situation has got my blood boiling. It’s ok to allow private schools to pour money into the GHSA coffers and require private school parents to help pay for public education through property and sales tax, but now we are going to be treated like second class citizens when the postseason rolls around? I am ok with the use of a multiplier because some private schools should be required to play up in Class AA, especially in certain sports. But the way this situation has been handled by the GHSA has been atrocious. They clearly bowed down to a few Class A blue bloods who were angry about not winning the state championship every year as they believe is their birthright.
bucket
January 12th, 2012
3:58 pm
@ GHSA Stripes – thanks for the info. So taking this year’s “round” number 4 privates who didn’t earn a playoff spot would be given one and 4 publics who did would be denied an opportunity to play for a state championship. I understand that would change from year to year, but does that sound fair to everyone?
jvillebil
January 12th, 2012
4:22 pm
There were 16 Public Class A school with winning records (regular season) that made the playoffs last year (2011) The other 4 were * Commerce 4-6 ** Wash-Wilkes 5-5 *** Miller Co 4-6 **** Calhoun Co. 4-6.
I don’t think it will matter to the public class A teams ( that routinely make the playoffs) if there are only 16 teams next year because none 4 teams I listed made it out of the first round anyway.
So as for my earlier question. Do you have to live within the city limit school district to attend Buford High?
Jim Crow
January 12th, 2012
4:44 pm
“now we are going to be treated like second class citizens when the postseason rolls around”
Not at all. Seperate but equal.
mike
January 12th, 2012
4:52 pm
bucket
To me it looks like with seperate championships that more public and privates will make the playoffs. The only difference is that publics and privates will not meet unless it’s in the regular season. To me that sounds like the way it should have been all along. The GHSA probably just allowed it until there was enough privates in the state to support it.
Clarkson
January 12th, 2012
4:54 pm
Has anyone really talked to Larry Campbell about how he feels about all this or is it just the folks who are all jealous of his success?
MB
January 12th, 2012
4:56 pm
Does Buford really pull from 2 counties?
jvillebil
January 12th, 2012
4:59 pm
Actually the private schools seem to be doing very well in class A. They had 5 teams in the final 8 and all 4 in the semi finals. Like I said earlier, I don’t have dog in the fight, but I guarantee you the publics don’t like it one bit. It’s like inviting your cousin and a few buds to the school dance and suddenly they’re taking over all the girls. LOL. Heck I wouldn’t invite you back either. Okay just joking.
Cats
January 12th, 2012
5:09 pm
In the playoffs, All schools should play against schools that share the same set of rules. If privates can recruit and publics can’t then they should only play in the preseason. In my opinion. I think GHSA got this one right.
jvillebil
January 12th, 2012
5:11 pm
Still waiting for an answer. Can you attend Buford High school if you don’t live within the city limit boundaries?