By Todd Wills
Let the speculation begin. And the headaches too.
Golden Circle schools have turned in enrollment figures to the UIL for the 2010-12 realignment, slated for Feb. 1, and the waiting, well it isn’t easy.
“We’re on pins and needles,” said Russell Anderson, Kerens athletic director and football coach. “There is more uncertainty than I can ever remember. We don’t know where the numbers are going to end up.”
Those numbers Anderson is speaking about are the cutoff points for Class 1A and 2A. Kerens, and Rice too, are right on the borderline, if you go by the 2008-10 alignment numbers.
The 1A cutoff for the previous alignment was 199 and below. Kerens turned in an enrollment number of 198 to the UIL last month. Rice turned in 199.
That would suggest both schools will be dropping to Class 1A, if you go by trends. For the last two realignments the cutoff has gone up by five — it went from 189 to 194 for 2006-08 and 194 to 199 for the current alignment.
If it goes up another five to 204, it would put Kerens and Rice safely in 1A.
“We feel like that’s a high possibility,” Anderson said. “Nothing is for sure, but we feel pretty confident that we’re going down. I can’t remember the last time it went down.”
The last time the 1A cutoff went down was 1990 when it dropped from 144 to 139. It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that the number could drop this time.
Throwing a kink into things is the UIL’s decision to divide Class 2A and 1A into two divisions prior to the season (remember that in 4A for instance, schools are divided into divisions for the football playoffs after the regular season is completed).
For past realignments, the UIL has place roughly 235 schools in 5A and worked its way down. But there is speculation that the UIL may make its way down to 3A and then work on the 1A divisions.
Depending on how many schools go into each 1A division — it could be 75 schools in each, it could be 90 — that would factor into what the 1A-2A cutoff point is.
The more schools that go into 1A would push the 2A cutoff to as a high as 500 and the 1A cutoff to the 215-220 range. But if the UIL goes with 75, it could push the number closer to 190 and keep Kerens and Rice in 2A.
See, it’s enough to keep you sleep deprived.
A few things are certain.
Corsicana turned in an enrollment figure of 1,460 and will again be right in the middle of 4A when it comes to numbers.
Blooming Grove at 260 and Mildred at 240 will safely be back in 2A, though still at the low end of the scale.
Wortham at 147, Hubbard at 126, Dawson at 116 and Frost at 92.5 will all stay in 1A.
In fact, if you’re interested at all in a UIL study dividing all classifications into two divisions, Wortham, Hubbard, Dawson and Frost were all placed in a 1A Division 2 district with Bosqueville and Dallas Gateway.
Again, this was just a study.
Coaches do like the UIL’s decision to divide 2A and 1A into two divisions.
“It makes a difference in the playoffs,” Dawson coach Scott Hawkins said.
Hawkins points out that in this year’s football playoffs, Dawson played against Mart, enrollment, 184.5 in the bi-district round. Dawson, which went 8-1 in the regular season, lost to Mart, 59-0.
The divisional format should even the playing field.
“We would never see Mart in this new alignment deal,” Hawkins said. “We’ll see how it works out.”
Meanwhile, the athletic directors wait.
Realignment has a huge impact on scheduling and travel, two things that make the next six weeks drag out even more.
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The final numbers
Here are the enrollment figures that the Golden Circle schools turned into the UIL:
Corsicana 1,460
Blooming Grove 260
Mildred 240
Rice 199
Kerens 198
Wortham 147
Hubbard 126
Dawson 116
Frost 92.5
