Topeka Capital Journal

KSHSAA hears public vs. private arguments April 23, 2010
| EMAIL | PRINT | COMMENT | SHARE By Brent Maycock
Created April 23, 2010 at 8:18pm

Updated April 24, 2010 at 12:05am
The public vs. private school issue is hardly a new one.

Nor is it an issue likely to be resolved with one easy decision.

"I don't think it's something that will ever get resolved to everyone's satisfaction," Southern Coffey County superintendent Mike Kastle said. "I don't think there's a conclusion that will satisfy everybody."

While a resolution doesn't appear to be in sight, discussions began in earnest at Friday night's Kansas State High School Activities Association Board of Directors meeting about potential wide-sweeping changes. No action will be taken this weekend — and the earliest wouldn't be until September — but as DeSoto principal David Morford said, it was time "to talk about the elephant in the room."

"We need to stop dancing around it," said Morford, who spoke on behalf of the Frontier League, which sent forth one of two proposals regarding reclassifying private schools.

Under the Frontier League's proposal, private schools would be put into a separate classification (two for football) while also breaking Class 4A into two divisions. A second proposal, submitted by the North Central Kansas League, would place private schools in one classification higher than the enrollment figure.

Some believe such change is needed because they say private schools are winning a disproportional number of state championships and claiming a disproportional number of state-tournament berths.

There might be some argument to that.

Take Class 5A, where there are four private schools — Aquinas, Carroll, Kapaun and Miege — that make up 12.5 percent of the classification. However, in the sports that conduct bracketed or pool-play state tournaments (baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball and volleyball), those four schools combined for 24 of the potential 64 postseason berths, or roughly 37.5 percent.

In girls' soccer, the final four teams in Class 5A were the four private schools.

In findings put together by an 18-member committee created to study the issue beginning in 2007, private schools won 21 percent of the state titles in volleyball, 11 percent in football, 14 percent in girls basketball and 19 percent in boys basketball. Private schools make up just 7 percent of the KSHSAA 360-school membership (26 schools).

"At some point, we had to discuss this issue," said Clay Center principal Mike Adams, speaking on behalf of the North Central Kansas League's proposal. "There's an inequitable playing field, and we need to change it."

The meeting drew eight public speakers, ranging from representatives from parochial schools such as Carroll, Kapaun, Colgan, Sacred Heart and Beloit-St. John's to Kastle from Southern Coffey and Havana resident Steve Clark, who brought 15 letters in support of changes to the classification system.

"Let me first say that I think an awful lot of private schools — my wife went to a great one out of state," said Clark, who also said he probably would have sent his children to one if there had been one near Havana, which is located just southwest of Independence in southeastern Kansas. "But I do think there needs to be a level playing field.

"And I'm not even focusing on championships. For me, it's about the journey and the chance to maybe win a sub-state. In some areas, there are roadblocks with private schools, and these kids just get tired of getting beaten down."

Sacred Heart principal John Krajicek said while the issue being addressed is private vs. public, it may not be the appropriate one. He said his school benefits from the numerous youth sports programs offered in Salina, something many schools Sacred Heart's size may not have since many 2A schools are located in rural, not urban, areas.

Most of the state's private schools are located in urban or metropolitan areas, giving them the same advantages.

"I've spent time in private and public schools, and the same factors go into successful programs — good coaching, supportive parents, community expectations and strong youth programs," Krajicek said.

But the perception is private schools have advantages, and that can be reality, said Colgan football coach Chuck Smith.

"It's all perception and people don't mean bad, but I don't think they fully understand," Smith said. "It's hard to say that we're really on a normal curve, but when you take every Catholic kid in town, you're really on a normal curve. You have all kinds of backgrounds and socioeconomic groups.

"This issue has been around forever, and it isn't going to go away."

KSHSAA executive director Gary Musselman agreed.

"I think, nationally, this dialogue has ratcheted up, not just in Kansas," he said. "It's a small world, a shrinking world in terms of communication and exposure. High school sports gets more attention than it used to and it's more in the limelight. Everybody has an opinion and can weigh in on it, and that escalates the dialogue.

"Clearly, there are both public schools and private schools that have real dominant stretches. Look at the Highland Parks, Wyandotte basketball, SM Northwest in cross country, Emporia in wrestling, right on down the line. I don't know that it all cuts one way and, as Chuck said, I think perception plays a huge part."