3afan
01-27-2008, 08:06 AM
Realignment by the numbers
UIL's biennial shuffle sets the course for the next two years
01:08 AM CST on Sunday, January 27, 2008
By KEITH WHITMIRE / The Dallas Morning News
kwhitmire@dallasnews.com
Every two years, the University Interscholastic League, which governs public school athletics in Texas, releases its realignment of schools into classifications and districts.
This year, the realignment for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years will be released at 9 a.m. Friday. Until then, the realignment is a closely guarded secret.
Schools are divided into classifications, from six-man to 5A, by enrollment. Enrollments are measured on just one day, a "snapshot date," across the state. For this realignment, the snapshot date was Oct. 26, 2007. A school's enrollment on that day will determine its positioning for the next two school years.
Schools are notified of the snapshot date in early September. To keep schools from artificially lowering their enrollment on the snapshot date, the numbers are checked against the figures schools submit to the Texas Education Agency for funding. Schools get tax dollars for every student enrolled, so a large discrepancy would be obvious.
Sometimes an enrollment figure assigned to schools ends in a .5. The UIL uses a formula to project the four-year enrollment for high schools that do not house all four grades, resulting in a partial number.
Students with multiple disabilities can be excluded from the enrollment count.
Once the realignment is revealed, school districts can appeal their district placement. Appeals are sometimes granted if the new alignment creates an extreme hardship, such as significant travel costs.
Traditionally on the morning realignments are revealed, area football coaches gather to begin putting together schedules for the next two seasons. This year it will be at the Birdville ISD's Fine Arts/Athletic complex.
New schools beginning varsity play in all sports in 2008-09: Conrad, Frisco Liberty, Lovejoy and Mansfield Legacy.
Highland Park to fall short again
There's an old joke among high school football fans: The cutoff figure for Class 5A will be whatever Highland Park's enrollment is plus five.
In 2004, Highland Park missed the 5A cutoff by four students.
"I don't think we're going to be that close this time," Highland Park athletic director and football coach Randy Allen said. "From every indication we have, we'll be 4A."
Highland Park submitted an enrollment of 2,009 for the new realignment. That would have qualified it for 5A two years ago, when the cutoff was 1,985, but that number is expected to grow.
The cutoff number has increased by an average of 51.69 in each realignment since Class 5A was created in 1980.
How close Highland Park has come to rejoining Class 5A in the last five alignments:
Year 5A cutoff HP Margin
1998 1,780 1,564 216
2000 1,865 1,717 148
2002 1,910 1,836 74
2004 1,925 1,921 4
2006 1,985 1,957.5 27.5
Dallas ISD will have company in 5A district, but who?
It's expected that the DISD will no longer have its own 5A district in the new alignment. Carter and Bryan Adams are expected to drop to 4A. Carter, in fact, had been competing in 5A with 4A numbers but will no longer petition to do so.
Skyline, Sunset and W.T. White are expected to remain in 5A, and Molina has petitioned to compete in 5A despite 4A numbers.
Roosevelt and Madison are expected to remain in 3A, leaving the rest of the DISD to form two eight-team 4A districts. Carter, Kimball and South Oak Cliff will probably be together in a district again.
Who will share a district with the DISD's four 5A schools? Richardson ISD athletic director Bob Dubey has told the UIL it would not appeal a pairing with the DISD schools. Berkner, Lake Highlands and Richardson would no longer compete against the much larger Plano and Allen schools.
Multiple-school school districts like having self-contained districts to make scheduling and other administrative functions easier.
"I know Bob Dubey and his staff real well," DISD athletic director Jeff Johnson said. "I don't anticipate there being any problems."
Irving ISD AD Joe Barnett said he has heard the Irving schools could be paired with the DISD.
The last time DISD shared a 5A district proved to be contentious. Carter and Kimball were aligned with Grand Prairie, South Grand Prairie, Duncanville and DeSoto from 1988 to '90.
The suburban schools appealed the alignment because of scheduling and financial concerns. Carter forfeited the state football title in 1988 because of an ineligible player. Carter was banned from the playoffs the next year by the district executive committee for using another ineligible player while on probation.
Schools on the move
Sometimes realignments bring little change to area districts, but some significant developments should make this an interesting unveiling.
Besides the DISD losing two 5As, Rockwall is expected to drop to Class 4A as the impact of Rockwall-Heath's opening takes full effect.
That leaves an opening in the current 10-5A, which features Rockwall and seven Garland ISD schools. Wylie could fill that vacancy, leaving McKinney Boyd, which is moving up from 4A, to take its place in a new 9-5A with the Plano and Allen schools.
Longview is expected to drop to 4A. It turned in an enrollment of 2,005 and requested to remain in 5A, but those requests are usually only granted for multiple-school school districts.
Longview dropping leaves the current 12-5A with only five schools: The two Tyler schools (Lee and John Tyler) and three Mesquite 5As (Mesquite, Mesquite Horn and North Mesquite).
Also, Abilene Cooper could drop to 4A and the resulting shuffle would impact the area's western districts.
GOING UP
Area schools projected to rise in classification:
3A to 4A: Royse City
4A to 5A: Keller Fossil Ridge, McKinney Boyd
On the bubble: Midlothian
GOING DOWN
Area schools projected to drop in classification:
5A to 4A: Rockwall, Bryan Adams, Carter, Carrollton R.L. Turner
On the bubble: Mansfield Timberview
LINK (http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/)
UIL's biennial shuffle sets the course for the next two years
01:08 AM CST on Sunday, January 27, 2008
By KEITH WHITMIRE / The Dallas Morning News
kwhitmire@dallasnews.com
Every two years, the University Interscholastic League, which governs public school athletics in Texas, releases its realignment of schools into classifications and districts.
This year, the realignment for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years will be released at 9 a.m. Friday. Until then, the realignment is a closely guarded secret.
Schools are divided into classifications, from six-man to 5A, by enrollment. Enrollments are measured on just one day, a "snapshot date," across the state. For this realignment, the snapshot date was Oct. 26, 2007. A school's enrollment on that day will determine its positioning for the next two school years.
Schools are notified of the snapshot date in early September. To keep schools from artificially lowering their enrollment on the snapshot date, the numbers are checked against the figures schools submit to the Texas Education Agency for funding. Schools get tax dollars for every student enrolled, so a large discrepancy would be obvious.
Sometimes an enrollment figure assigned to schools ends in a .5. The UIL uses a formula to project the four-year enrollment for high schools that do not house all four grades, resulting in a partial number.
Students with multiple disabilities can be excluded from the enrollment count.
Once the realignment is revealed, school districts can appeal their district placement. Appeals are sometimes granted if the new alignment creates an extreme hardship, such as significant travel costs.
Traditionally on the morning realignments are revealed, area football coaches gather to begin putting together schedules for the next two seasons. This year it will be at the Birdville ISD's Fine Arts/Athletic complex.
New schools beginning varsity play in all sports in 2008-09: Conrad, Frisco Liberty, Lovejoy and Mansfield Legacy.
Highland Park to fall short again
There's an old joke among high school football fans: The cutoff figure for Class 5A will be whatever Highland Park's enrollment is plus five.
In 2004, Highland Park missed the 5A cutoff by four students.
"I don't think we're going to be that close this time," Highland Park athletic director and football coach Randy Allen said. "From every indication we have, we'll be 4A."
Highland Park submitted an enrollment of 2,009 for the new realignment. That would have qualified it for 5A two years ago, when the cutoff was 1,985, but that number is expected to grow.
The cutoff number has increased by an average of 51.69 in each realignment since Class 5A was created in 1980.
How close Highland Park has come to rejoining Class 5A in the last five alignments:
Year 5A cutoff HP Margin
1998 1,780 1,564 216
2000 1,865 1,717 148
2002 1,910 1,836 74
2004 1,925 1,921 4
2006 1,985 1,957.5 27.5
Dallas ISD will have company in 5A district, but who?
It's expected that the DISD will no longer have its own 5A district in the new alignment. Carter and Bryan Adams are expected to drop to 4A. Carter, in fact, had been competing in 5A with 4A numbers but will no longer petition to do so.
Skyline, Sunset and W.T. White are expected to remain in 5A, and Molina has petitioned to compete in 5A despite 4A numbers.
Roosevelt and Madison are expected to remain in 3A, leaving the rest of the DISD to form two eight-team 4A districts. Carter, Kimball and South Oak Cliff will probably be together in a district again.
Who will share a district with the DISD's four 5A schools? Richardson ISD athletic director Bob Dubey has told the UIL it would not appeal a pairing with the DISD schools. Berkner, Lake Highlands and Richardson would no longer compete against the much larger Plano and Allen schools.
Multiple-school school districts like having self-contained districts to make scheduling and other administrative functions easier.
"I know Bob Dubey and his staff real well," DISD athletic director Jeff Johnson said. "I don't anticipate there being any problems."
Irving ISD AD Joe Barnett said he has heard the Irving schools could be paired with the DISD.
The last time DISD shared a 5A district proved to be contentious. Carter and Kimball were aligned with Grand Prairie, South Grand Prairie, Duncanville and DeSoto from 1988 to '90.
The suburban schools appealed the alignment because of scheduling and financial concerns. Carter forfeited the state football title in 1988 because of an ineligible player. Carter was banned from the playoffs the next year by the district executive committee for using another ineligible player while on probation.
Schools on the move
Sometimes realignments bring little change to area districts, but some significant developments should make this an interesting unveiling.
Besides the DISD losing two 5As, Rockwall is expected to drop to Class 4A as the impact of Rockwall-Heath's opening takes full effect.
That leaves an opening in the current 10-5A, which features Rockwall and seven Garland ISD schools. Wylie could fill that vacancy, leaving McKinney Boyd, which is moving up from 4A, to take its place in a new 9-5A with the Plano and Allen schools.
Longview is expected to drop to 4A. It turned in an enrollment of 2,005 and requested to remain in 5A, but those requests are usually only granted for multiple-school school districts.
Longview dropping leaves the current 12-5A with only five schools: The two Tyler schools (Lee and John Tyler) and three Mesquite 5As (Mesquite, Mesquite Horn and North Mesquite).
Also, Abilene Cooper could drop to 4A and the resulting shuffle would impact the area's western districts.
GOING UP
Area schools projected to rise in classification:
3A to 4A: Royse City
4A to 5A: Keller Fossil Ridge, McKinney Boyd
On the bubble: Midlothian
GOING DOWN
Area schools projected to drop in classification:
5A to 4A: Rockwall, Bryan Adams, Carter, Carrollton R.L. Turner
On the bubble: Mansfield Timberview
LINK (http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/)