FHSAA to discuss possibility of forming "Rural" division
PORT ST. JOE — The level athletic playing field that many small public high schools in the Panhandle have sought for years may be coming into focus.
On June 15, the Florida High School Athletic Association will vote on moving forward with investigating the forming of a “Rural” division in eight team sports that could be implemented as early as the 2011-12 school year.
The vote stems from a committee that has gathered statewide input from parents and coaches at public meetings, the most recent in Port St. Joe on Thursday night.
Tim Wilder, Gulf County Superintendent of Schools and FHSAA president-elect, said the effort represents the most headway on the issue in the past 15-20 years.
“There have always been rumblings about it, but this is the first time the board has been approached as a collective unit,” Wilder said Friday. “It is very doable and very possible.”
Wilder stressed that the forthcoming recommendation is not a public school vs. private school issue. Rather it compares the ability of an urban school to attract student-athletes from a metropolitan area competing against a rural public school from a county of 20,000 residents.
“You can’t punish the private schools because the state and the Department of Education give them the right to do what they do,” Wilder said.
The alternative could create a new rural division of schools with enrollments of 500 students or less. If the recommendation gets FHSAA approval on June 15 to move ahead, it is possible a restructured division could be adopted in November.
The team sports involved would be girls and boys basketball, baseball, football, boys and girls soccer, softball and girls volleyball. Wilder said that a number of options must be considered including redistricting, reclassification, an appeals process for eligible schools that did not wish to participate as well as those whose enrollment might exceed the threshold and wish to join.
Logistics and mileage also could become factors in some sections of the state.
“I would think if it was less than 32 schools it wouldn’t be enough,” Wilder said. “I would hope it would be closer to 40, or more than 40.”
Wilder estimated that about 80 percent of those schools eligible for the rural designation are located in the Panhandle. The Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development would determine rural status, which Wilder said is a legislatively recognized definition.
He added that newer schools such as Bozeman School in Bay County, South Walton and Northview Bratt might petition to join the rural division. The schools in the new division then could compete in their playoff format without the specter of meeting an urban school in the second or third round of the regional playoffs.
As example, Wilder said that Paxton High School had one of its best boys basketball teams in years, but went up against a school from Jacksonville last winter in the regional semifinals and lost by 28 points.
The FHSAA’s Urban/Rural Advisory Committee that gathered input was chaired by State Representative Marti Coley and included Elijah Bell, athletic director at Jay High School, James Harris of Orlando, Bob West, athletic director at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville and Rick Williams, director of Sports Medicine/Outreach, Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic.
“This has been a very well organized effort with support of athletic directors,” Wilder said. “We are shooting for the 2011-2012 school year. That would give athletic directors and coaches time to adjust.
“If it goes through and the board gives permission it will move ahead.”
