FROM AJC: The Georgia High School Association placed its 468 member schools into regions for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years on Tuesday after hearing requests to move up and appeals to move down in classification.
The GHSA’s reclassification committee blocked five schools with Class A enrollment from moving into Class AA. The committee also let Dacula, Greater Atlanta Christian and St. Pius enter classes lower than originally classified but denied bids by Calhoun, Woodward Academy and Blessed Trinity to do the same.
As planned, the GHSA split Class A into public- and private-school divisions, each with eight regions. Class A Private has only 40 football-playing schools, 32 that will make the playoffs. The small numbers resulted in three four-team regions.
The reclass committee will meet again next Tuesday to hear requests to change regions within the same class and to hear appeals of schools that were denied their requests to move up.
Class AA schools breathed sighs of relief when the GHSA denied the requests of Christian Heritage, Darlington, Holy Innocents’, Pace Academy and Wesleyan to move up.
Denials of play-up requests are extremely rare if not unprecedented, but they were applauded by AA members, who will have easier paths to state championships.
The five schools that appealed to move into AA won 10 state titles in 2018-19. All five have been in the top 10 of the football rankings at some point this season.
The only private schools that have competed in AA the past four seasons are Benedictine, which moved to AAA in 2018, and St. Vincent’s, a Savannah girls school that has won five state titles in that ti
Lovett, currently a AAA private school, and Riverside Military, currently Class A, will be the only private schools in AA for 2020-21. They were placed there based on enrollment.
Dacula, the school with the No. 1-ranked football team in AAAAAA, won an appeal that will prevent it from moving up to the highest classification in 2020-21. So did Richmond Hill, which faced the prospect of joining Lowndes and Colquitt County in Region 1-AAAAAAA but got to stay put.
St. Pius and Greater Atlanta Christian also won reclassification victories.
But Blessed Trinity, Calhoun, Starr’s Mill and Woodward Academy were not so fortunate. They remain assigned to Class AAAAA. Calhoun and Starr’s Mill were dismissed unanimously, but Woodard and Blessed Trinity each lost by votes of 9-7.
For Calhoun, that’s a two-class bump from its current AAA. Woodward and Blessed Trinity are moving up one class. Rutland of Macon also lost its appeal and must compete in AAA.
Fourteen schools won appeals to play lower than originally placed. St. Pius now is slated for AAAAA while GAC is pegged for AAA.
Other schools allowed to compete lower than originally classified are Bryan County (approved for Class A), Central of Macon (AAA), Chamblee (AAAAA), Druid Hills (AAAA), KIPP Atlanta (AA), North Springs (AAAAA), Richmond Academy (AAA), Screven County (A), Social Circle (A) and Westover (AAAA).
Winning an appeal typically requires that a school show proof that its enrollment or out-of-zone numbers are inaccurate, deceiving or produce no competitive advantage. Richmond Hill made a case based on isolation. Richmond Hill is an average of 155 miles from the current members of 1-AAAAAAA, its likely region.
Below are the GHSA’s proposed regions. Class A schools that do not play football have not yet been placed in regions.
Class AAAAAAA
Region 1
Camden Co.
Colquitt Co.
Lowndes
Tift Co.
Region 2
Campbell
East Coweta
McEachern
Newnan
Pebblebrook
Region 3
Harrison
Hillgrove
Marietta
North Cobb
North Paulding
Walton
Region 4
Brookwood
Grayson
Newton
Parkview
Shiloh
South Gwinnett
Region 5
Alpharetta
Cherokee
Etowah
Milton
Roswell
Woodstock
Region 6
Forsyth Central
Gainesville
Lambert
North Forsyth
South Forsyth
West Forsyth
Region 7
Archer
Berkmar
Discovery
Dunwoody
Meadowcreek
Norcross
Region 8
Collins Hill
Duluth
Mill Creek
Mountain View
North Gwinnett
Peachtree Ridge
Class AAAAAA
Region 1
Houston Co.
Lee Co.
Northside (Warner Robins)
Valdosta
Region 2
Bradwell Institute
Brunswick
Effingham Co.
Glynn Academy
Richmond Hill
South Effingham
Statesboro
Region 3
Alcovy
Evans
Grovetown
Heritage (Conyers)
Lakeside (Evans)
Rockdale Co.
Region 4
Hughes
Lakeside (Atlanta)
Lovejoy
Morrow
North Atlanta
Tucker
Westlake
Region 5
Alexander
Carrollton
Dalton
Douglas Co.
East Paulding
Paulding Co.
Rome
South Paulding
Region 6
Allatoona
Kell
Kennesaw Mountain
Lassiter
Osborne
Pope
South Cobb
Sprayberry
Wheeler
Region 7
Cambridge
Centennial
Chattahoochee
Creekview
Johns Creek
River Ridge
Riverwood
Sequoyah
Region 8
Buford
Central Gwinnett
Dacula
Denmark
Habersham Central
Lanier
Winder-Barrow
Class AAAAA
Region 1
Coffee
Veterans
Ware Co.
Warner Robins
Wayne Co.
Region 2
Griffin
Harris Co.
McIntosh
Northgate
Northside, Col.
Starr’s Mill
Whitewater
Region 3
Banneker
Creekside
Drew
Forest Park
Jonesboro
Mundy’s Mill
Tri-Cities
Woodward Acad.
Region 4
Dutchtown
Eagle’s Landing
Jones Co.
Locust Grove
Ola
Stockbridge
Union Grove
Woodland, Stock.
Region 5
Chamblee
Clarkston
Cross Keys
Decatur
Lithonia
M.L. King
Southwest DeKalb
St. Pius
Stone Mountain
Region 6
Chapel Hill
Grady
Jackson, Atlanta
Lithia Springs
New Manchester
North Springs
Villa Rica
Region 7
Blessed Trinity
Calhoun
Cartersville
Cass
Hiram
Northview
Woodland, Cart.
Region 8
Apalachee
Clarke Central
Eastside
Greenbrier
Jackson Co.
Johnson, Gaines.
Loganville
Walnut Grove
Class AAAA
Region 1
Bainbridge
Cairo
Dougherty
Monroe
Thomas Co. Central
Westover
Region 2
Carver (Columbus)
Columbus
Hardaway
Jordan
Kendrick
LaGrange
Shaw
Spencer
Troup
Region 3
Benedictine
Burke Co.
Islands
Jenkins
New Hampstead
Region 4
Baldwin
Howard
Perry
Spalding
West Laurens
Region 5
Fayette Co.
Hampton
Luella
McDonough
Mount Zion (Jones.)
North Clayton
Riverdale
Region 6
Arabia Mountain
Druid Hills
Hapeville Charter
Marist
Mays
Miller Grove
Stephenson
Region 7
Cedartown
Central (Carrollton)
Heritage (Ringgold)
Northwest Whitfield
Pickens
Ridgeland
Southeast Whitfield
Region 8
Cedar Shoals
Chestatee
East Hall
Flowery Branch
Jefferson
Madison Co.
North Oconee
Class AAA
Region 1
Appling Co.
Brantley Co.
Liberty Co.
Long Co.
Pierce Co.
Tattnall Co.
Region 2
Americus-Sumter
Central (Macon)
Crisp County
Jackson
Mary Persons
Peach Co.
Pike Co.
Rutland
Upson-Lee
Westside (Macon)
Region 3
Beach
Groves
Johnson (Sav.)
Savannah
Sav. Arts Academy
Southeast Bulloch
Windsor Forest
Region 4
Cross Creek
Harlem
Hephzibah
Morgan Co.
Richmond Academy
Thomson
Westside (Augusta)
Region 5
Carver (Atlanta)
Cedar Grove
Douglass
GAC
Redan
Salem
Sandy Creek
Westminster
Region 6
Adairsville
Coahulla Creek
LaFayette
Lakeview-Ft. Ogle.
Murray Co.
North Murray
Ringgold
Rockmart
Sonoraville
Region 7
Cherokee Bluff
Dawson Co.
Gilmer
Lumpkin Co.
North Hall
West Hall
White Co.
Region 8
East Jackson
Franklin Co.
Hart Co.
Monroe Area
Oconee Co.
Stephens Co.
Class AA
Region 1
Berrien
Cook
Early Co.
Fitzgerald
Thomasville
Worth Co.
Region 2
Bacon Co.
East Laurens
Jeff Davis
Swainsboro
Toombs Co.
Vidalia
Woodville-Tompkins
Region 3
Bleckley Co.
Dodge Co.
Lamar Co.
Monticello
Northeast
Southwest
Washington Co.
Region 4
Butler
Glenn Hills
Jefferson Co.
Josey
Laney
Putnam Co.
Region 5
Bremen
Callaway
Haralson Co.
Heard Co.
Temple
Region 6
Columbia
KIPP Atl. Collegiate
Lovett
McNair
South Atlanta
Stillwell Arts
Therrell
Towers
Washington
Region 7
Chattooga
Coosa
Dade Co.
Gordon Central
Model
Pepperell
Region 8
Banks Co.
Elbert Co.
Fannin Co.
Oglethorpe Co.
Rabun Co.
Riverside Military
Union Co.
Class A Private
Region 1
Deerfield-Windsor
First Presbyterian
Mount de Sales
Stratford Academy
Strong Rock Christ.
Tattnall Square
Region 2
ELCA
Landmark Christian
Our Lady of Mercy
Whitefield Academy
Region 3
Aquinas
Calvary Day
Savannah Christian
Sav. Country Day
Region 4
Brookstone
Heritage (Newnan)
Pacelli
Trinity Christian
Region 5
Hebron Christian
Holy Innocents’
Mt. Pisgah Christ.
Mount Vernon
Pace Academy
Providence Christ.
Wesleyan
Region 6
Fellowship Christian
King’s Ridge Christ.
Lakeview Academy
Pinecrest Academy
St. Francis
Region 7
Christian Heritage
Darlington
Mt. Paran Christian
North Cobb Christ.
Walker
Region 8
Athens Academy
Athens Christian
George Walton
Loganville Christian
Prince Avenue
Class A Public
Region 1
Baconton Charter
Brooks Co.
Calhoun Co.
Miller Co.
Mitchell Co.
Pataula Charter
Pelham
Randolph-Clay
Seminole Co.
Terrell Co.
Region 2
Atkinson Co.
Charlton Co.
Clinch Co.
Irwin Co.
Lanier Co.
McIntosh Co. Academy
Turner Co.
Region 3
Bryan Co.
Claxton
Emanuel Co. Inst.
Jenkins Co.
Johnson Co.
Metter
Montgomery Co.
Portal
Screven Co.
Treutlen
Region 4
Dooly Co.
Dublin
Hawkinsville
Telfair Co.
Twiggs Co.
Wheeler Co.
Wilcox Co.
Region 5
Central (Talbotton)
Chattahoochee Co.
Greenville
Macon Co.
Manchester
Marion Co.
Schley Co.
Stewart Co.
Taylor Co.
Region 6
Armuchee
B.E.S.T. Academy
Bowdon
Gordon Lee
Mount Zion (Carroll)
Trion
Region 7
ACE Charter
Crawford Co.
Georgia Military
Glascock Co.
Hancock Central
Wilkinson Co.
Region 8
Commerce
Greene Co.
Lincoln Co.
Social Circle
Towns Co.
Warren Co.
Washington-Wilkes
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