Hermiston, Pendleton may be in Central Oregon, not Western Oregon

The May 11^th. meeting of the OSAA Classification and Districting Committee for the 2010-2014 four year time block produced an eighth draft proposal (maps). Much of the discussion revolved around whether eastern Oregon 5A teams Hermiston and Pendleton should be placed in the largely western Oregon based East Metro League, or the central Oregon Hybrid, comprised of current and historic members of the Intermountaion League.

Hermiston and Pendleton had expressed a desire to become Metro schools, primarily because it would actually become an I-84 league, as Hood River and The Dalles-Wahtonka are also ticketed for this circuit, along with westside schools Milwaukie, Molalla, Parkrose, Putnam, and Sandy. However, the westside and gorge schools wanted nothing to do with the trips east on I-84.

Following extensive discussion, the Committee reached some consensus on a plan for both 4A and 5A alignment. The Committee forwarded a new alignment for the 4A classification for consideration and feedback from member schools. As compared to the 4A alignment in Committee Proposal #7, the new proposal results in fewer changes in league assignment as compared to current 4A leagues. It also results in smaller leagues in some areas, though the departure of Molalla and Marist to 5A is also a factor in that. The latest proposal supports two of the OSAA's stated criteria, including preserving "athletic district history" and "moving as few schools as possible."

Regarding the 5A alignment, the Committee spent nearly two hours comparing alternative approaches, mostly focused on where to place Pendleton and Hermiston, and the resulting impacts on those schools and the other schools in the potential leagues in which they might be placed.

According to a statement released by Mike Wallmark, OSAA Associate Executive Director, and Peter Weber, OSAA Assistant Executive Director, "Every alternative considered benefitted some schools using the criteria the Committee is bound to consider,

and disadvantaged others. The Committee was unable to find a 'win/win' proposal that would satisfy all concerns of all schools. Although it was not a unanimous decision, the consensus of the Committee was that Hermiston and Pendleton should remain as members of the previously proposed Central Oregon Hybrid League. Again, maintenance of "athletic district history" and "moving as few schools as possible" were factors in committee's decision.

The Committee also chose to table action on a request from the current 5A Northwest Oregon Conference to form a Northwest Oregon Conference Hybrid League until after the 2008-2009 enrollment numbers for the schools in the potential league are available, which will occur in the fall of 2009.

Play-Down Progresses

The Committee ALSO asked OSAA staff to include the Petition to Play Down Form for the next time block in the materials sent to all member schools following the meeting. Schools seeking to play down will be directed to submit the form and all relevant information regarding the request to the OSAA office by July 1, 2009. Requests will then be reviewed for consideration by the Executive Board at the Summer Board Workshop in July, where the Board will evaluate petitions, and offer conditional approval in cases where they consider approval to be appropriate. The Classification Committee will then have that information when making final league alignment adjustments when the Committee meets in September.

The approvals will also be conditional, as the Delegate Assembly still needs to adopt the language giving the Board the authority to grant Play Down Requests before they can actually be implemented as part of the alignment in the new four year time block.

The next public meeting of the Classification and Districting Committee will be in September 2009, on a date yet to be confirmed. Member schools will be notified of the date as soon as it is confirmed, and it will be posted on the osaa.org website. The date will be set once the availability of the 2008-2009 ADM figures is determined. Those numbers will also be shared with member schools as soon as they become available to the OSAA from the Department of Education, according to Weber.

The format for that meeting will again be for the Committee to receive public testimony first, followed by a closed work session. The Committee will make its final recommendations to the OSAA Executive Board at the October, 2009, Special Classification and Districting Meeting.

All proposed districts for all classes in Draft Proposal 8, as well as the criteria on the "Play Down" form, is available for review at http://osaa.org/governance/committees/classification/051109Update.pdf

In addition to the opportunity for public testimony at the fall meeting, written suggestions and proposals on these issues, as well as other classification related subjects, are welcomed, and may be emailed to Peter Weber at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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