Class 5A officials want to even playing field with big and small school districts

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — Superintendents in Class 5A have been reaching out to each other and University Interscholastic League officials to talk about splitting football districts into “small school” and “big school” divisions.

Among those calling for the change is Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Rob O’Connor. Marble Falls would likely fall into the small school division.

“We’re working on trying to get that on the ballot (in the spring),” he said. Superintendents in every classification vote on UIL competition rule changes every year.

The group of superintendents has been observing the effects of that change in Classes 1A-4A, which were split into different divisions for district play this year. This season, the Llano football team competed in the smaller District 13-4A Division II, while Burnet played in the bigger 13-4A Division 1.

In Classes 5A and 6A, districts are determined by proximity first. Once four teams qualify for the postseason, the two squads with the biggest enrollment go into the Division I playoffs, while the two with the smallest enrollment head to Division II.

But determining districts based on enrollment first allows football teams with fewer players to compete against opponents with similar numbers, superintendents and coaches say — evening the playing field.

Ultimately, that’s what drove Class 4A superintendents to push for the change, though it was not done overnight, former Llano Independent School District Superintendent Dennis Hill said.

Hill said superintendents voted on the measure during the 2009-2010 school year and that it did not pass.

“But it was not a clear overwhelming majority,” he said.

So conversations continued before superintendents voted on the measure during the 2012-2013 school year. And the reason the change was put on the ballot, he said, is because superintendents made sure the UIL knew how they felt about the issue.

Hill saw the discrepancy in Llano’s enrollment when the Jackets faced Burnet, Lampasas and Liberty Hill in district play. He said Llano could have added another Class 4A school to its enrollment, and the two together still would have not put the Yellow Jackets in the top three in the district.

“There’s a point in which the numbers get to be an advantage,” he said. “An exception to the rule is you have two or three strong classes back to back, and you do well. But it’s hard to get around the cold, hard fact the numbers are an advantage.”

Hill noted that, many times, the enrollment numbers of the state’s football dynasty schools are at the top of their districts.

When Burnet and Lampasas played in Class 5A from 2004 to 2008, Llano advanced to the playoffs in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The Jackets also advanced in 2008, the year Burnet and Lampasas dropped back down. But from 2009 until 2013 when Llano, Burnet and Lampasas were in the same district, the Jackets only qualified for the playoffs in 2010 and 2013.

Meanwhile, Burnet missed the postseason only one time, in 2011, since leaving Class 5A.

The results of the vote were released in February 2013 with a 102-65 total to split the division. That was nine months before snapshot enrollment numbers were due in October and a year before realignment was announced.

So why did it pass in 2012-2013?

“I don’t know,” Hill said. “I voted for it, most of my colleagues did. Talking with the other superintendents, there was not much incentive for them not to vote for it. It got to the point — the dynamic was so great — we had to do something.”

Burnet athletic director Kurt Jones said competition in this year’s District 13-4A Division I with China Spring, Waco Robinson, Gatesville, Waco La Vega and Lampasas was just as strong as last year when the Bulldogs played Brownwood, Gatesville, Liberty Hill, Lampasas and Llano.

“In terms of competition, I don’t know that (the split) affected us at all,” Jones said.

Jones and Llano athletic director Craig Slaughter both noticed some negatives they did not consider when the districts in Class 4A were split. Because the change only affected football districts, girls on the volleyball team who were also cheerleaders or in the band could not always play both volleyball on Fridays and attend the football games. There were times when the volleyball squad played a different opponent in a different city than the football team, forcing fans and even families of athletes to decide which sport to support, Jones said.

“That’s tough as well on our community,” he said. “It splits the fan base.”

The other was travel expenses.

Jones said he estimates Burnet traveled an extra 500 miles more this season because the Bulldogs made two trips to Waco to face La Vega and Robinson this season. Next season, those schools come to Burnet.

Slaughter anticipates the travel was farther for the Yellow Jackets.

“Llano is so isolated,” he said. “There’s not a district to throw us in. Schools Llano’s size are what’s disappearing on all the maps.”

But to Slaughter, it was worth it for Llano, even though the Yellow Jackets did not qualify for the playoffs this season after doing so in 2013.

“You’re going to play a team you’re better matched up with,” he said. “Some of those games against Liberty Hill and Burnet, we’d still struggle with this year, in my opinion. (The split divisions) make the playing field as level as you can. You give your kids the best chance to be successful.”

MFISD’s O’Connor said the extra expense is not as much of a factor for him and other superintendents to whom he has spoken.

“The superintendents are supportive of equality,” he said. “Most superintendents care about giving their kids an opportunity to be successful. The cost is secondary.”

At Burnet, Jones said the split division has not been much of a topic.

“For us, our mindset has been ‘tell us what district we’re in, and let’s go compete,'” Jones said. “People at the UIL make those decisions. It does not do any good (to dwell on something we can’t control).”

Llano’s Slaughter hopes the UIL doesn’t just stop at separate divisions for football.

“I hope it catches on in volleyball and all the other sports,” he said. “It would be an equal playing field for all our sports.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com