IHSA announces multiplier changes

Updated: June 16, 2011 3:23PM

The IHSA on Thursday announced changes to its policies for waiving the multipliers for private schools and for classifying schools.

Till now, schools had to apply for waivers of the 1.65 enrollment multiplier for all sports. But the new policy will allow schools to get waivers for some less successful programs while maintaining them for more competitive teams.

Also, waivers will be granted automatically for programs that do not meet certain criteria for success. Waivers now will be granted to teams that have not accomplished any of the following in the past five school years: won a state trophy, qualified for the state finals, won a sectional, won two or more regionals, finished second or third in the sectional twice or more (track and field only) and won a first-round football playoff game.

The IHSA also tweaked the classification cutoffs so that they are now different for various sports, based on past participation. The new class cutoffs for boys basketball are 274 and under (1A), 275-669 (2A), 670-1,580 (3A) and 1,581 and over (4A). In baseball, on the other hand, the cutoffs are 328 and under (1A), 329-802 (2A), 803-1,729 (3A) and 1,730 and over (4A).

Using the 2010-11 enrollment numbers, the classification changes would bump Class 3A boys basketball powers Morgan Park (1,611 enrollment) and T.F. North (1,666) up to 4A.

The new multiplier waiver could affect schools like St. Rita. The Mustangs haven't won a boys basketball regional since 2003, meaning they'd get a waiver for that sport that would put them in Class 3A based on their 2010-11 enrollment of 1,412. But because the baseball team finished second in the state in 2009 and 2010, the multiplier would remain in effect for that program, putting the Mustangs in 4A with an adjusted enrollment of 2,329.80.

IHSA executive director Marty Hickman said in a release that the multiplier "has been overly punitive to some programs, resulting in lopsided outcomes in postseason reults," which prompted the waiver changes.

Hickman said the classification cutoff changes were designed to even out some of the imbalances in the number of schools assigned to different classes in sports such as boys golf. He noted that under the old three-class enrollment cutoff of 775, many more schools wound up in Class 1A than the IHSA intended (247 of 503).

“Different sports offered different challenges during this process," Hickman said in the release. “For example, the Board felt good about the breakdown when three-class team sports were evenly split with a third of the competing schools in each class. Yet, when you look at the three-class individual sports, it was necessary to increase the percentage of schools allocated to Class 1A because many of the 1A schools have only a few individuals competing and don’t field full teams, which would alter the competitive balance for team advancement in the State Series for those sports.”

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