Vote held on changes to WVSSAC classification system

LEWIS COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - School leaders from across West Virginia came together to voice their thoughts on how to make athletic competition more fair.

The WVSSAC held a meeting at the Stonewall Resort in Roanoke Thursday morning with high school principals and athletic directors.

Each school got one vote on proposed changes.

Wayne Ryan, the Associate Director of the WVSSAC, says the two proposals that passed at the meeting are:

- enrollment will be measured only every two years instead of every four.

- classifications will be based on two factors: enrollment and socio-economic factors.

A location score has been removed from future use in the classification process, Ryan says.

The socio-economic proposal passed 74-59.

Ryan says the goal is to reach a more fair balance of competition.

He says 31 original proposals were negotiated down to 13, and two of them passed.

The measure will need to pass at the State Board of Education before taking effect next school year. Ryan says the state board would likely take the issue up in December.

Spring Valley athletic director Tim George says this is the outcome his school wanted, and this is something they can move forward with, but he says this is not a time to celebrate, considering dozens of other schools didn’t get the outcome they’d desired.

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