The group of school athletic officials that met last month to consider forming its own playoff format separate from the PIAA has been invited to testify before the joint PIAA Legislative Oversight Committee next month, and its leaders are calling on every school district in the state to help them prepare.
The PIAA Equity Steering Committee is asking all five-hundred districts to answer a one-question survey by Friday. The question is “Do you support the separation of PIAA playoffs for boundary (traditional public) schools and non-boundary (private/charter) schools?”
The question has been asked before as part of a larger survey, and the group received 206 responses. It’s hoping for fresh numbers, and more of them.
After the meeting last month, PIAA Equity said it would seek clarity on the 1972 state law that allowed non-public schools to compete with public schools. It contends that there is nothing about that law that demands the playoffs be mixed. The group is seeking to create a playoff system where the private schools compete in their own playoff format because the system is unfairly tilted to give them a competitive advantage over the public schools.
The meeting is scheduled for 10 AM September 5th at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The Steering Committee says to anticipate another PIAA Equity update sometime between this Friday and September 5th to provide the survey results and testimony information.
