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The second enrollment count has been released by the IHSAA. These enrollment numbers come directly from the State Department of Education and reflect the total number of students in each high school in Idaho that is an active member of the IHSAA.
These number are used to help determine in which classification an individual school will compete in athletic and academic events. There are two counts each year: November 1 and March 1. Each count is added together then divided by two to determine where each school's average enrollment sits.
There are six classifications in Idaho, broken down in the following student enrollment categories:
5A: 1,280 students and over
4A: 640-1,279
3A: 320-639
2A: 160-319
1AD1: 100-159
1AD2: 99 or less
To see the complete list of the November/March enrollment count, please CLICK HERE.
As of the March count, this is where member schools stand enrollment wise. However, these are not the final standings of where each school will participate in athletic and academic events classification-wise.
"These are not set classification numbers," said Ty Jones, in his first year as executive director of the Idaho High School Activities Association. "First, our classification committee then our Board of Directors will look at them. If they decide that this is where the cutoff numbers are for schools then they will vote on it.
According to Jones, that vote takes two readings and votes from the IHSAA Board. Following those votes, that is where the 'petitioning' can begin.
"(Petitioning) takes two readings most of the time as well", Jones said. "We are still about six months away from anything being final."
While, as Jones mentioned, nothing is final, these numbers should give us a good idea of where each school sits. Here is a list of schools that could be moving classifications for the 2016-18 cycle based ONLY on numbers:
1. Rigby and Kuna moving UP to 5A
2. Vallivue*, Idaho Falls, and Skyline moving DOWN to 4A.
3. Emmett moving UP to 4A.
4. Wallace and Valley moving UP to 2A.
5. North Star Charter and North Fremont moving DOWN to 1A Div-I.
6. Lakeside and Wilder moving UP to 1A Div-I.
7. Butte County, Raft River, and Genesee moving DOWN to 1A Div-II.
8. Genesis Prep joining the IHSAA as a member of 1A Div-II.
*Vallivue will be having the new Ridgevue High School joining their school district in the fall of 2016. Ridgevue and Vallivue are both projected to have a student enrollment of around 1,100.
Schools can petition to play in a higher classification or to stay at the same, current level. A school cannot petition down. These cases, however, are taken on an individual basis and are handled by the IHSAA. There are a few schools that are playing at a higher classification than what their current numbers show.
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