MSSportsGuy

What Marshall did was garbage. It's one thing to not really try to win, but to flat out refuse to run plays, snap the ball, or even engage in the game is horrible. The coach messed up big time and the players and their parents should be horrified such an event happened. However, what was the MAIS thinking could happen in this new format? They clearly weren't. It's beyond silly to have this many "champions" for 4 classes in the name of keeping everyone happy. The big four in the Jackson area are so much larger than the rest of the association they really aren't able to compete, but those four are all hungry for power and bragging rights as well.

Thrasher in 1A also has no wins but is in a region with four schools so they could also get in with no victories. It's absurd this format exists. 6 classes is plenty but if the association won't change, which they won't, then 4 regions in 1A should be it.. There are too many bye weeks and incomplete schedules with these tiny regions. Having a winless team travel for a "playoff game" is idiotic.

I'd propose: 6A: 24 5A: 24 4A: 48 3A: 48 2A: 48 1A: whatever is left That's still just 6 teams in a region for 4A to 2A so one more region game and still 4 teams making the playoffs. The enrollment differences are pretty small between the classes after the top layer.

From the looks of it this isn't a region game as Houston is 4A and CC is 3A. I will beat my dead horse again. Too many classes with too few teams in a region leaves some schools scrambling to play a full 10 game schedule. While that's not necessarily bad, wouldn't it be better all around to have fewer classes with larger regions, say even 7 teams, if the plan is for 4 teams to make the playoffs? Yes, the gap between the top and bottom of the old 6A was large but there were other ways to address that rather than adding another class, spreading out a small pool of schools again, especially considering consolidation will continue to reduce the overall number of total members.

Many people, some on this thread and also in communities, hear district consolidation and immediately think it equates to closing schools. That is not what the governor claims should happen. An earlier post referenced consolidation in Pontotoc County. The districts (Pontotoc City and County) could consolidate and maintain each of their schools with only one superintendent and board in the county. North Tippah (Walnut and Falkner) are consolidating due to finances however it would be even better for North and South Tippah districts to merge under a single superintendent and board. That is what the governor claims needs to take place, to reduce the number of districts, superintendents, and boards across the state rather than necessarily the number of schools. There were some district consolidations years back in counties with limited tax bases and some lower performing schools and more are needed for the same reasons. I also believe we could do without some of the counties in our state as well as fewer representatives and senators but those won't happen in my lifetime.

It does. What's been discussed here is district consolidation. FCAHS is considered its own school district with a board, superintendent, staff, etc. They are one of four districts in Forrest County. The governor is bringing up school district consolidation which does not necessarily mean closing schools but rather putting more small districts under larger ones. FCAHS covers the southern end of the county so it would likely never close as its own school, but the time could come where they didn't have their own superintendent and board. I don't care of FCAHS as a district gets put with one of the other existing districts or remains its own, but many on this board and across the state can agree some districts should be consolidated with counties with very small populations and limited tax bases yet they contain two (or maybe even three) school districts with their own administration.

School district consolidation is needed much more than individual schools in most areas. There is literally no reason to have two or three superintendents in some of these counties that are so small other than "it's the way it's always been". There should be some individual school consolidation and eventually some areas will be forced to due to poor facilities and no funds to fix them or build new ones. I can understand parents and families being upset about schools closing but district consolidation should not be a touchy issue unless a high performing district is being forced to absorb a very low performing one. In Northeast MS there is no reason for Pontotoc City and County to be separate, nor New Albany and Union County or North and South Tippah. All six are solid or high performing and beyond politics and egos, literally no reason for different districts. There are many, many other examples but those are the three who jump out at me. I don't know how much political will there is for this but with the school choice fight about to go down and the logistics of it, things may look very different in Mississippi with public education. For those who are regular readers, I am as passionate about the need for district consolidation as I am how the MHSAA needs five classes at most.

The increase in consolidation is yet another reason to not have 7 classes, the total number of schools will only drop. With the stagnant population plus increase in private schools plus homeschooling becoming more common, there won't be another new high school to open due to increasing enrollment anywhere for the next twenty plus years. I live in Rankin County and the number of people who attend Hartfield, Park Place, East Rankin, and now Discovery blows my mind in a county that to me still has a pretty good public system. I'm also a North Mississippi native and the Walnut and Falkner (no U, the author added the U to his name for stylistic purposes only) consolidation has been a long time coming. I could think of at least a half dozen other counties/schools where the continuous dropping of numbers plus poor facilities will force the hands of some boards eventually despite the outcry from parents and communities. Consolidated numbers are too tough to project right now so who knows the impact but the greater impact should be the association going back to 5 classes with regions of 7 or 8 teams to help with competition and reduce travel.

1A is currently weaker than tea. Some of the powerhouse schools (Weir, Durant) are gone and some others have struggled with numbers amid shrinking enrollments. Only 5 classes would help but since it's not on the table, 4 regions of 8 or 9 teams would help the situation.

Are nine regular season games doing to be a thing many schools do? I can see some places with low numbers or who lack a competitive roster doing it but to me it amplifies the fact five or six team regions leave a lot of extra scheduling to do. Let's reduce the number of classes back to five and have larger regions with fewer scheduling holes. Yes it won't happen but a guy can dream.

If the 7 classes thing persists, and no reason to think it's changing, then at least go back to 8 team regions in 1A football. It's sad that winless teams make the playoffs and are forced to spend time and money traveling to a road game only to get killed in round 1. Some of these regions are beyond sad.

Consolidation to me is the biggest reason why 7 classes is silly. There have been some school consolidations here and there the past few years that will only continue. With our stagnant population plus increase in homeschooling and private school enrollments, there likely won't be any new high schools constructed unless it's a replacement school for an old facility. Why spread a shrinking number of public schools out even more among classes? At least the MHSAA just added more classes rather than MAIS who will now only have 4 classes but multiple champions in each. Both associations are fighting the same battle: the schools at the top of the line are so much larger than those even a few below them that it makes it challenging to keep a competitive balance. But the 7 classes genie is out of the bottle in Mississippi and likely won't go back in.

It's clear we are on different sides of the issue and that's fine. I won't be upset if it passes but I don't think it should, just my two cents. Families who homeschool are definitely choosing not to participate in other aspects of the system besides curriculum. Schools operate on a school calendar of 180 days and at least until the upper high school years are in school from around 8 am until 2:30/3 pm. Homeschoolers hypothetically start the day at any time, end it when they choose, and have classes whenever they want. If the family opts to go to Walmart in the middle of the day, they can. If they decide to not have science class one day, they can. No one gets much of a choice in where their tax money goes. My kids are grown but I can't just say I shouldn't pay school taxes anymore. We all pay taxes for plenty of things we don't utilize and barely have input over. My point is tax money goes to support a system homeschoolers have the right to participate in just like those in private schools. If they don't, that's their business. That does not mean they should be able to access elements of their choosing like athletics. It's having your cake and eating it too. Again, just my two cents and it's not a cause I plan to vocally protest with the legislature.

Yes they pay taxes to the system but they've chosen not to actively participate in it. That's their decision but by not participating, you shouldn't expect to get to pick and choose what elements you take part in verses what you don't.

I have some friends who are very vocal in support of this act and I've tried to consider both sides. I see the argument for allowing this but I also don't think it's should happen. Families who choose to homeschool have made the conscious decision to not participate in the public education system. I have no issues with this and have personally experienced many home schooled students who are intelligent, successful and very well adjusted despite the stereotypes. Part of opting out of the system means their students are not subject to the same curriculum, school day length, number of credits to be earned so they should not get the same benefits offered to public school students. This would include eating in the caffeteria, accessing the library, school computers for use, textbooks for what classes still use them, and yes athletics. My wife and I have no children who are school aged anymore yet we still pay school taxes and do not get any direct benefits of this. We all pay taxes in some shape or form for services we don't use or access. That's fine. This isn't an anti tax argument nor am I opposed to home schooling. I just believe people who choose not to participate in a system shouldn't get the benefits of it.

I've posted more than one rant here about the silliness of 7 classes and won't provide anything new to add but to summarize: 1. The gap between the top and bottom of 6A for the 32 teams wasn't a bad point to make. However, I contended it wasn't new and something that had just happened, it had always been there to some degree. 2. A better solution would have been for 6A to become the top 24 teams, with 5A also being the next 24. There are approximately 240 MHSAA members so 240 minus 48 is 192, which divided by 4 means 48 teams per class. That's basically one more team per region in classes 4A down, which we know 1A has several who don't play football. 3. The director claimed it would "increase excitement" which is one of the most disingenuous things I've ever heard. Everyone knows darn well it was a money grab under the guise of giving students a chance to play for a state championship. 4. I recall Grenada being one of schools saying how unfair the gap was since they were towards the bottom of 6A under the old system. This season Grenada voluntarily played Oak Grove, Oxford, Clinton, Desoto Central and Bartlett TN (their enrollment per TSSAA is 2,822 for 9-12 so much larger than Tupelo). They won all those games besdies Oak Grove. They clearly have a talented team this year but seems a bit overblown they "couldn't compete" with top schools due to enrollment numbers. 5. School consolidations will continue to happen and decrease the total number of schools overall in the state. Why continue to spread out schools among more classes and regions when the enrollment differences are miniscule beyond the top layer? Almost everyone on this board agrees 7 classes is silly yet it will not go back unless coaches and administrators vote to change it. They should but won't.

At the risk of being too negative, Desoto County in general isn't what it was even ten years ago. The student body tends to be very transient and the OB zone is one of the smaller ones in terms of geography and population. That being said Desoto County schools just don't have good football cultures and isn't a priory for the communities in general. The Memphis influence keeps increasing there and they are dealing with more challenging behaviors from students and families as well. A good friend of mine teaches at one of the better schools in the county and due to his wife being in a more lucrative career, his kids attend Briarcrest in Collierville rather than the public school near their house and it's considered one of the "better" ones.

I inquired with my Tippah connections yesterday and the candidate opposing consolidation lost the race. It was on the November 5 ballot,. Saw the Ripley coach is retiring. This year was a struggle for them but I've heard he's a great coach. They've had some up and down years but it's not a bad situation.

From what I was told yes and I'd say it's not likely to be reversed. I didn't grow up in Tippah but in that region. I have relatives in Ripley and with students there and at Pine Grove. It's been a little contentious as one would suspect but I figure it will go through. It's overdue.

This is where the obsession with keeping an even number of teams in each division despite the travel challenges can lead. Ripley will struggle to get fans and take fans to those places other than Senatobia. This won't just be for football but other sports as well. This one jumped out at me when I saw the lists which overall aren't that bad.

Outside of a few weird ones this looks as reasonable as can be expected. I don't know why Tupelo and Oxford would trade places in 1-7A. However, I'm glad the association kept a 7 team region on the coast since WH and Meridian tied rather than scramble multiple teams and regions. Ripley in 3-4A gets a weird placement that will likely hurt their ticket sales as I would be surprised if a couple of those teams travel well. I would also suspect their fans won't travel as well to a few of those spots. Why in the world would you keep 8 regions in 1A? It's beyond dumb. Several regions have teams with less than stellar football programs historically and will find themselves in the playoffs virtually by default. I guess this will "increase excitement". 7 classes is ridiculous. 6 was plenty and 5 wouldn't be as awful as people may think. I recall Grenada being one of the schools chirping about being at a disadvantage due to the 6A gap. Considering they voluntarily played Oak Grove and Bartlett TN this year (Bartlett's enrollment is 2822 per the TSSAA and much larger than any school in MS) perhaps they weren't as disadvantaged as they claimed.

We probably all agree that even 5 classes are adequate for a state our size, particularly in light of the consolidations that are coming down the line. I still maintain district consolidations are more needed than individual schools in most cases but also know school consolidations will happen as populations drop and facilities decline which will mean even fewer schools spread out over more classes.

No doubt, could cut those and the legislature almost in half and not see much of a difference in services. Like I said I'm a native of NE Miss and the districts probably need to be consolidated as much as schools but it would start a domino effect. Tippah, Union, Alcorn, Prentiss, Pontotoc all have two different districts. Why? "It's the way it's always been". I won't name names about who I think should be closed but if each of those counties just had one district, you'd have at least a couple of candidates since the "city" and "county" would disappear in some of them. Ingomar and Pine Grove are schools with excellent basketball traditions and (as safely as I can put it) demographics that favor what the parents want. I didn't say who I think should be for sure but I have my thoughts. As far as BM and Ripley, I was told by a Tippah relative that the board fears pushback from the justice department if they close a minority serving school (BM) while keeping a larger yet still small school with no minority students (PG) open. I won't swear that's legit but given what Tate County went through trying to get Coldwater closed, I wouldn't be surprised.

I've posted earlier in this thread and before the association has often been too inflexible on region and classifications where it would make sense from a travel perspective to let schools play up or down if the enrollment difference is miniscule while also letting a region have maybe one more school. Based on the numbers we just saw, what would be the harm in letting Murrah play 6A or if not, keeping HC down on the coast rather than drive to Jackson or Hattiesburg for game? Football may only make one trip a year but there are sports beyond that. They should go ahead and let 3A have 41schools with OLA and 2A as well with New Site who don't play football. At least that makes every region have 5 teams and it's not as though the 1 school will greatly impact the level of competition in other sports. Of course we usually don't do things that make sense in Mississippi.

Continuing school consolidations are another reason why I've been so insistent on not needing 7 classes. More will happen and more would likely have already happened if there were fewer school districts in our state. Districts need to be consolidated more than schools to save on administrative costs and may pop up again in the near future. The county where I grew up in Northeast MS has two districts for no reaon beyond "that's the way it's always been". People are quick to say school and district consolidations should happen but when it's their school system being impacted they tend to fight it. I never predict who will consolidate and I've repeatedly said bigger doesn't mean better but there are many communities where it would make sense on paper but that doesn't mean it will happen.