If there is anything that is crystal clear after yesterday’s meeting of more than 151 public school superintendents, athletic directors, and coaches in State College, it’s just how frustrated they are with the PIAA and its leadership.
As one superintendent put it, the PIAA has forgotten that it works for the schools, not the other way around, but the schools were given no opportunity to provide input on the decision to move to six classifications from four, and no input on last week’s tweaking of eligibility rules and adjustments in classifications based on a school’s success.
The PIAA issued a statement saying it would address the group’s issues when they are forwarded to the Board of Directors through the proper channels, but one of the group’s most vocal leaders, Laurel Superintendent Leonard Rich, says the PIAA’s statement was prepared before their summit and released after it.
While the group was willing to remain in the PIAA for now rather than form its own separate organization, it did vote by show of hands to change the playoff system to four championships for public schools and two for private and charter schools.
As for the next step, the group will seek a legal opinion on whether or not the 1972 state law admitting private schools into the PIAA mandates they participate in the public school playoff system, or could have their own.
The meeting yesterday included representatives from Heritage Conference schools Blairsville-Saltsburg, Homer Center, Marion Center, Northern Cambria, Penns Manor, and United.
