The Indiana High School Athletic Association is considering a new classification proposal that would drastically alter Shelbyville’s postseason route.
The Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association has delivered a four-class proposal with fixed classifications that would drop Shelbyville from a 4A school to a 3A school.
The new proposal reduces the gap in the largest class, keeps schools in the same class for all four-class sports, and ensure schools will not move to a higher class without an increase in enrollment.
The proposal would not eliminate the IHSAA’s “success factor” program that bumps schools to a higher class based on postseason success at its current class.
The fixed four-class alignment would fill Class 4A with schools with 1,400 students or more; 3A with enrollment figures between 600 and 1,399; 2A between 325-599; and Class A schools with 324 students or less.
Depending on sport, Shelbyville is between the smallest 10 to 15 schools in Class 4A. Other than softball, Shelbyville has not won a sectional championship in basketball, baseball, soccer or volleyball in more than a decade.
Shelbyville is currently classified based on 1,133 students. The most recent basketball sectional pairings had the Golden Bears competing against Columbus North (2,219 students), Whiteland (2,021), Franklin (1,571), Columbus East (1,534) and East Central (1,269).
Potential 3A postseason opponents would be East Central, Greenwood (1,193), New Palestine (1,167), Roncalli (1,081), Connersville (981), Beech Grove (968), New Castle (875), Greensburg (716), Batesville (711) and Rushville (660).
The new proposal would assign 68 schools to 4A and between 99 and 117 schools in the other three classes based on participation levels in each sport.
Triton Central, with 462 students, would be in the upper half of the number of schools in 2A. Morristown (189), Southwestern (176) and Waldron (161) would remain in Class A.
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