To speak on the “Charter Schools should have their own class or play in SCISA” opinions that many, especially in the Upstate, have:
1. Charter schools are public schools. This is common knowledge. They are not eligible for SCISA membership.
2. There’s not enough charter + private to class them separately in SCHSL (only ~12 play FB: James Is, Gray, Oceanside, MVP, Fox Creek, Atlantic, ALA, Calhoun Falls; Bishop England, Christ Church, SS Christian, St Joes)
3. Even if there were enough to split off, state law under the budget proviso that allocates SCHSL its funding strictly prohibits it (considered discriminatory behavior.. modern-day “Separate But Equal” statute).
4. Not every charter is set up to be an AAU high school.
5. This is semester 1, year 1 of the 3x Multiplier. Let it breathe.
Now, we all agree that the 8th grade recruiting to avoid the transfer eligibility rule is clearly foul. If I were able to make a motion in the committee room in that specific Gray case, it would have been a year suspension of JV program, with waived eligibility for any student wishing to return to his district of residence. Punishing Gray’s varsity over this with a playoff ban is dumb, but cutting off the legs of a program that has been clearly operating in Gray-area loopholes or worse (pun intended) sends a strong, clear message.
Just my 2 cents. Y’all have a happy Football Friday Night.
SCHSL Executive Meeting
Re: SCHSL Executive Meeting
As I have stated over the last several years, creating an "Open Division," like a few states like California, would potentially create a solution. You could place the larger schools, Charter schools, and anyone who wishes to compete at this level together. Schools like De La Salle (1050 Students), Mater Dei (2159 students), St John Bosco (900 students), and others compete against schools that have 3,000-4,000 students in California's Open Classification.