A numbers game

By JORDAN DAWSON / Bigfork Eagle

Changes were made to the Montana High School Association athletic classification and districting plan in July 2007 to simplify assessment and make adjustments for declining school enrollment statewide.

The new bylaws state that when classification for member schools is adopted that the classification remains in effect for two years. The previous system had the board reevaluating every school each year, which created instability within the conferences.

Classification is currently based on two consecutive years of enrollment data. Schools submit enrollment numbers in March and in November. The board takes an average of the previous spring and the following fall for two years, and then averages those two numbers .

In addition to the evaluation system being altered, the numbers used to base placement have been decreased by about 8 percent to reflect the 8 percent decrease in enrollment state wide over the last 10 years. However, even with the enrollment ranges being decreased, Bigfork still fell within the Class B range. Schools used to be Class B if they had an average enrollment of 130-369. Now they are Class B if they have 120-339 students. Bigfork averaged 333.25 students over the last two years.

According to middle school and high school administrators, those numbers are going to continue to drop and level out around 280-300 students for an extended period of time.

Bigfork, which is the smallest Class A public school in the state, was one of three schools to be asked to move from Class A to Class B. The other two schools, Billings Central and Butte Central, both of which are private schools, have already sent in appeals to remain in Class A. Billings Central had 313 students enrolled last year and Butte Central had 137 students. Ronan High School narrowly stayed within the Class A guidelines with an average of 340.5 students over the last two years.

Many community members and students have said that they feel blind-sided by the recommendation and are surprised that they weren't informed of the possibility of changing classes earlier. Prior to setting new rules in July 2007, MHSA made their recommendations to schools in November and gave the schools until January to submit an appeal.

When MHSA Executive Director Mark Beckman called Matt Jensen, BHS activities director, on Nov. 5 to notify him that the Class B recommendation had been made and that the school would be receiving a letter shortly, he also stated that an appeal would be needed by Nov. 14 rather than in January, a change Beckman told Jensen many schools were not aware of.

There was some speculation since last spring that Bigfork may be moved down a class. Enrollment numbers had declined some, but the administration, which has gone through a rapid transition this year, thought that the school would stay above the cutoff-line. Jensen pointed out that the school was only six-and-three-quarter students, on average, short of staying in Class A.

Neil Eliason, a former track and cross country coach at BHS, submitted a letter to the school board last spring suggesting that if the school ever got the opportunity to move to Class B that he recommended they do so.

"Bigfork High School has many fine athletes and coaches," Eliason wrote. "However, because of school enrollment numbers, their participation in the Class A level, as determined by the Montana High School Association, makes it very difficult to field strong teams in all sports."

However, a school cannot petition to move down a class, so Bigfork had to wait to receive a recommendation to move down to Class B before they could take any such action.