(The Daily Advertiser) – The second day of the LHSAA Annual Convention focused more on the physical agenda items that principals around the state will vote on during Friday’s general business meeting.
The most hot-button issue of the day was Iowa principal Mike Oakley’s proposal to combine Class A, B and C into one class and reduce the number of football classifications from five to four.
At the LHSAA roundtable discussion, principals from around the state were encouraged to ask questions about the coming legislation, and the bulk of the time was spent discussing Oakley’s proposal.
A point of clarification: Oakley currently has three constitutional amendments up, but if the first one fails (which will be the first thing principals vote on Friday morning) then all of the other amendments become moot, meaning they would not be voted on.
Talking with several people around the state, athletic directors, coaches and principals on both the Select and Non-Select side, the chances Oakley’s first amendment passes seem slim at this point.
And if the first amendment does indeed fail, everyone could be in for a short meeting with very few remaining controversial amendments.
Several members of the LHSAA Executive Committee spoke against Oakley’s proposal during the roundtable discussion, mostly against the second of his three amendments, which would strip voting rights from the Coach’s Association, the Athletic Director’s Association, the School Board and the superintendents.
The two other amendments that drew the most discussion were the “Elite Teams” amendment and the amendment that would strip voting rights from certain schools based on sports participation.
There were plenty of questions surrounding the Elite Teams proposal, including how teams would be deemed elite and how teams would move back down after being deemed elite.
Teurlings principal Mike Boyer addressed the crowd during the Class 4A meeting and answered several of those questions.
Boyer said teams would be deemed elite only after an extensive review from LHSAA Executive Director Eddie Bonine.
Bonine would then pass along his recommendation to the executive committee — whether to move the school up or not — which would then vote on the recommendation.
As for moving down, schools would be locked into their elite classification for the current classification period, which lasts two years.
The voting rights issue, essentially schools only being able to vote for sports they participate in, also drew some questions from members of the LHSAA during the discussion.
Others news and notes
North Vermilion principal Tommy Byler was elected to the LHSAA Executive Committee during the Class 3A meeting.
Niles Riche of Assumption was elected by the LHSAA Executive Committee as the new president of the committee. The position was previously held by Vic Bonnaffee of Central Catholic.
Bruce Bundy of Mandeville was elected by the LHSAA Executive Committee as the new vice president of the committee. The position was previously held by Riche.
