The GHSA reclassification subcommittee will ask the organization’s full executive committee on Jan. 10 to discuss a potential split between Class A private and public schools for the state playoffs.
The split would create two separate state playoff tournaments or competitions for all sports, sources said, and would affect public and private schools only in Class A.
The reclassification committee proposed a split between Class A rural and urban schools -- essentially a public and private split -- in baseball, softball, tennis and golf, but that proposal was voted down by the executive committee at an Oct. 6 meeting. The issue was sent back to the reclassification subcommittee, which had the option of altering the proposal for the January meeting. The executive committee was already scheduled to vote to ratify region reclassification at the Jan. 10 meeting.
The GHSA office is closed until January, but the agenda for the already scheduled executive committee meeting changed either Monday or Tuesday to reflect discussion of a “public-private proposal directed forward from the Oct. 6 meeting.”
The discussion was revived in the past few days following a Dec. 13 meeting of mostly Class A public schools that are exploring the possibility of withdrawing from the GHSA. As losing more than 30 public schools in Class A comes closer to a reality, Wilcox County head coach Mark Ledford believes the reclassification subcommittee is reconsidering the public-private split as a chance for reconciliation.
Ledford, whose school has been a host for secession talks and one of the leaders in the movement, reiterated his school and others have been in support of a public-private split for the playoffs for the past 11 months.
“We don’t want to leave the GHSA, but we are doing what we believe is in the best interest of all the schools involved in these conversations,” Ledford said.
Ledford said the latest development with the GHSA won’t derail his group’s withdrawal discussions. The group’s leaders are scheduled to meet Wednesday morning in Macon to discuss by-laws for a new league, and they have a larger meeting set for Jan. 4, six days before the GHSA holds its meeting.
“The executive committee still has to vote and decide on this proposal if it goes through,” Ledford said. “We’re not stopping our discussions because of what could happen. We are moving forward.”
It’s unclear how the split would alter the current regions or the 32-team playoff brackets that most team sports use in the GHSA.
