Legislative Bill 1081 would classify school varsity teams by enrollment and on their past success

Legislative Bill 1081 would place schools with winning teams year after year into the next higher class for varsity competition. State Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber is concerned with the disproportionate number of state championships won by parochial schools. There is a belief by some people in Nebraska that private and parochial schools are able to recruit players and can control their student numbers so that they can compete in lower classes. The Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) classifies schools by their enrollment. The NSAA is governed by its members schools, which includes nearly all of the public and private schools in the state. Changes to how schools are classified by the NSAA must be proposed by member schools and agreed upon by the membership before they can be implemented. I serve on the management committee for NSAA District III (the Northeast District of the State). During my 21 years as Superintendent, there have been proposals to address the parochial/private vs. public school issues regarding classification. Several years ago the NSAA had a study committee look into it and no recommendations came out of the committee. There are strong feelings expressed whenever this is brought up among the schools, and I doubt we see it addressed again anytime soon.