PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission received an opinion on Monday, August 12, from the Review Board reversing the decision of the Board of Directors to uphold the appeals of 11 schools for reclassification in football for the 2024-25 academic year.
The Review Board, composed of seven members appointed by the West Virginia Superintendents of Schools, has directed that the eleven schools be reclassified for the upcoming football season only.
The 11 schools are: Frankfort High School, John Marshall High School, Oak Hill High School, Petersburg High School, Preston High School, Saint Albans High School, St. Mary’s High School, Sissonville High School, Spring Valley High School, Tyler Consolidated High School, and Wayne High School.
“We received notification of the Review Board’s decision on Monday and are working through the implications at this time,” said David Price, WVSSAC Executive Director. “We respect the governance process in place and will do our best to work through the logistics of these changes so close to the start of competition.”
After a pilot period of four classifications for basketball, the WVSSAC’s Board of Control (consisting of representatives/principals from each secondary school in the state), voted to extend the expansion to four classifications in additional sports by a vote of 117-16.
The WVSSAC Board of Directors received feedback and recommendations from the full membership and the Competitive Balance Committee and announced the four-classification plan in December 2023.
Eleven of the 128 schools, all of which voted for the expansion of classes previously, filed an appeal with the Board of Directors. Upon review, the Board of Directors upheld the original decision for reclassification.
The eleven schools then filed appeals with the Review Board which reversed the decision and notified the WVSSAC on Monday evening.
The WVSSAC will provide additional updates when available.
