Six Classes, Not Much Change

MACON -- Berkmar athletics director Dan Knudsen said Tuesday that he is comfortable with the idea of Georgia's high school athletic teams going to a six-classification format beginning in 2012.

"I'm sure the Executive Committee did a great job and took into account all the factors involved," Knudsen said hours after the Georgia High School Association voted 26-24 Tuesday to move from a Class AAAAA to Class AAAAAA system.

"A lot of people put a lot of time and a lot of thought into this, so I'm not going to second-guess them."

Knudsen said he felt like the decision would have little impact on Berkmar.

In fact, the change probably won't mean any difference for Gwinnett schools currently playing in regions 8-AAAAA (including Berkmar and Parkview) and 7-AAAAA.

"Generally speaking, I feel like we're going to remain in the highest classification due to our enrollment [approximately 2,900 students].

Tuesday's vote came shortly after the committee overwhelmingly rejected the controversial 4/8 proposal advanced by Executive Committee Chairman Stan Ethridge of Savannah. That vote was surprisingly lopsided with 35 of the 50 members opposed.

The 4/8 system would have divided Georgia high schools into four classifications for the regular season and subdivided them into eight classifications for the playoffs and would thus result in crowning eight state champions in each sport.

Some coaches felt that would dilute the importance of winning a state title.

The Macon Telegraph reported that Metro Atlanta schools voted 17-0 against the 4/8 plan and, by the same vote, approved the six-class plan.

"It seems there is a clear divide between Atlanta and the rest of the state," former Brookwood High coach Dave Hunter told the newspaper. "That’s unfortunate."

The new Class AAAAAA system will be implemented starting with the 2012-13 school year.

GHSA communication director Steve Figueroa said once the Department of Education determines the Full Time Enrollment (FTE) at each school, 15 percent of high schools will be placed in Class 6A, 15 percent in 5A, 16 percent in 2A, 3A and 4A and 22 percent in Class A.

With 4,400 GHSA member schools, the 15 percent for the highest class would amount to around 66 schools. Based on current FTEs, all of Gwinnett's schools in Class AAAAA would fit into that percentage group.

Once the GHSA announces the new classifications, the schools will have 14 days to appeal to the organization to be moved up or down in classification.