It isn’t likely to be approved any time soon.

STAFF REPORT

An OHSAA sub-committee has recommended adding a seventh division for the state football playoffs, a move that could be years away from taking effect.

The move would split Division I, which has a large discrepancy in enrollments, in half.

This season the largest school in Div. I has 1,246 boys in grades 9-11; the smallest has 528.

The Valley’s three largest schools are Warren Harding (682 boys), Fitch (668) and Boardman (640).

All three schools would be at or near the division line. Given current enrollments provided by the OHSAA, Warren Harding would be the second-smallest school in the large division and Fitch and Boardman would be among the nine largest schools in the second division.

The sub-committee recommended splitting Div. I in half, with the top four teams in each region qualifying for the playoffs.

The current Divisions II-VI would remain the same, with eight teams qualifying for the postseason.

According to the OHSAA, the proposal could be enacted by a vote of the organization’s board of directors and would not be subject to a vote by member schools.

However, Mike Richards, president of the OHSAA board of directors and principal of the Allen East Local Schools in Allen County, said the proposal isn’t likely to be approved in the near future.

“Our plans are to study the proposal further,” Richards wrote in a release from the OHSAA. “We … have not set a timetable for acting on the recommendation. I can safely say that, should the proposal be accepted or a modification of the proposal be approved, we do not anticipate implementation of a change occurring in the next few years.”

The OHSAA plans to gather input from the affected schools and to gauge the projected economic impact of the change.

The subcommittee was comprised of superintendents, principals, athletic administrators and coaches from across the state along with OHSAA administrative staff members.