Emporia High administrators found out Thursday that the school has been placed in the 5A classification in all sports.
Emporia has been competing as a 6A school in football and at the 5A level in all other sports.
“We were a little unsure about how it would shake out just because we’re so close to that line between 5A and 6A, and I thought there might be a chance that we would stay at the 6A level in football,” EHS athletic director Britton Hart said. “It’s going to be different for us competing at the 5A level, because we haven’t been there before. We’re excited about some of the new challenges that come with this change.”
The reason football classifications sometimes differ from the other sports is based on scheduling.
District football schedules are set for two years, which means a school is locked into that classification for two years regardless of enrollment figures. Enrollment for football is based on the total number of students in grades 9 through 11.
As such, Emporia High football will remain at the 6A classification this season and then move to the 5A level next year. According to figures released by the Kansas High School Activities Association, Emporia has 1,051 students in grades 9 through 11, which will make EHS the largest 5A football school in Kansas next year.
For all other sports, classification is renewed annually, meaning current enrollment figures determine that year’s classification. Those figures are based on the number of students in grades 10 through 12.
Emporia’s enrollment figures for grades 10 through 12 show 997 students, making it the second largest 5A school behind Hutchinson (1,027).
Hart said Emporia will not know what district the football team will play in the next two seasons until the district meetings next Wednesday in Salina.