COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association board of directors approved new divisional assignments Thursday based on updated school enrollment figures that do not include charter school, community school and STEM school students in the public schools where they reside. Divisional assignments for the next two-year cycle had originally been approved in June, but at its meeting last Thursday the board reversed an earlier decision to include those students in public school enrollment counts, resulting in recalculation of divisional dividing lines based on the updated enrollment figures.
The new divisional breakdowns are posted at: http://www.ohsaa.org/members/sptdivis15.htm
The new enrollment figures are posted at: http://www.ohsaa.org/members/hsenroll15.htm
FOOTBALL: The new regional maps and lists of schools in each division are posted on the OHSAA’s football page at: http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/ft/boys/default.asp
The passage of Ohio House Bill 487 in July of 2014 now gives charter school, community school and STEM school students the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities at their local public school. The OHSAA decided to include those students in the enrollment counts of their local public school. (For districts with multiple high schools, those students were divided evenly among that districts’ schools.) However, last week’s action by the board in their first meeting of the 2015-16 school year reversed that decision
The OHSAA’s six District Athletic Boards are to have fall tournament information reposted in their respective web sites by September 1. This includes all tournament sites, managers, contact information and assigned schools.
The OHSAA is in the process of forming a committee to study the issue of determining the best way to include charter school, community school and STEM school students in enrollment counts in the future.
In June, the OHSAA issued a release explaining why charter school and STEM school students were included in enrollment counts. The release is posted at: http://www.ohsaa.org/members/Memos/20150626.pdf
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