FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 1998


Board votes to stick with 2-year classification cycle; Hughes assumes role as Commissioner

GAINESVILLE – Reacting to the concerns of a majority of member schools, the FHSAA Board of Directors accepted a staff recommendation to reclassify member schools for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 school years, rather than the 1999-2000 school year only during its regular meeting held Sept. 28 at the FHSAA Office in Gainesville.

The Board of Directors also approved the recommendation of President William J. Montford that Commissioner-Designate Robert W. Hughes assume the role of Commissioner on Oct. 1. Commissioner Ron Davis will remain on staff as a consultant to Hughes until his retirement Jan. 15, 1999. The Board of Directors also awarded Davis the title Commissioner-Emeritus and named the FHSAA Academic All-State Awards Program, which he initiated, in his honor.

The recommendation to step up the transition in leadership was based on an agreement reached between Montford, Hughes and Davis and will allow Hughes to move into the Association’s chief leadership role early while still having ready access to Davis’ knowledge and experience.

"Mr. Hughes and I have had a lot of time of the last few weeks to discuss the Association, its history and organization," Davis said. "I have shared my ideas and concerns with him; and he with me. I feel confident that Mr. Hughes is prepared to lead this organization; and I am prepared to turn that leadership over to him. I will be in the office almost everyday until Jan. 15 if he needs me. I also have told him to feel free to call me after that date anytime he needs me."

Hughes presented the staff recommendation that the Board of Directors reconsider the decision it made in April to reclassify schools for one year only. That one-time, one-year cycle would have enabled the FHSAA to synchronize its two-year football scheduling cycle with that of the Alabama High School Athletic Association and the Georgia High School Association so that member schools in north Florida could more easily schedule contests with schools in those two states.

"The scheduling problem with schools in Alabama and Georgia affects only a handful of schools," Hughes told the Board of Directors. "However, in traveling around the state and meeting with our membership over the last few weeks I have heard numerous concerns about the potential negative financial impact this decision could have on a vast majority of schools if they are required to sign only one-year contracts.

"Those concerns prompted us, as a staff, to review the decision of the Board of Directors and see if it was in the best interests of all member schools. In our opinion, it was not."

The staff recommendation accepted by the Board of Directors also includes an amendment to the Association’s football regulations that will allow schools which need to schedule out-of-state schools to exceed the current maximum of seven two-year contracts upon written approval of the Commissioner. This new language will enable those schools which receive this approval to sign two-year contracts with out-of-state schools that carry over from the second year of the FHSAA cycle into the first year of the next cycle.

Said Hughes: "We believe our recommendation is a compromise that will address and satisfy everyone’s concerns."

In other action, the Board of Directors:

• Approved a staff recommendation to hange the method by which the Association collects student population data from member public schools for classification purposes. Under the new method, the staff will request such data directly from the 67 district school board offices rather than from the Department of Education. Districts which request and receive approval for students who attend non-member alternative or magnet schools to represent their home-zoned schools in interscholastic athletic competition will be required to include those students in the student population data for the member school which they represent.

• Authorized the staff to solicit input from the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the FHSAA’s own Athletic Directors Advisory Committee on a staff recommendation that the sport of football be classified on a system differently than the system used for all other sports.

• Directed the staff to develop for presentation to the Board of Directors in its November meeting a plan for dividing schools into classifications for the next two school years. Staff was directed to develop alternatives to the current 96-96-80-56-56 breakdown for the Board of Directors to consider.

• Awarded host rights to the 1999 FHSAA Florida Tennis Finals in Class 6A to University High School in Orlando, and in Classes 5A and 4A to George Jenkins High School in Lakeland.

• Awarded host rights to the 1999 FHSAA Florida Weightlifting Finals in all classifications to The Lakeland Center contingent upon the willingness of Rickards High School in Tallahassee to surrender its right to host the event in Class 4A only. Should Rickards High School wish to keep the Class 4A event, the remaining three classifications will be offered to The Lakeland Center.

• Approved a recommendation of the Softball Advisory Committee to adjust the schedule for the FHSAA Florida Softball Finals so that all tournament games are played in the afternoon. Games will be played on multiple fields.

• Approved a recommendation of the Track & Field Advisory Committee to adjust the schedule for the FHSAA Florida Track & Field Finals for all classifications to better accommodate athletes participating in multiple events. Field event competition in each state meet will be moved from 3 p.m. to 1 p.m. and running preliminaries will be moved from 4:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Running finals still will begin at 7 p.m.

• Directed to staff to develop for presentation to the Board of Directors in November options to the existing District Tournament Seeding Policy.

Contact:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org