PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE IN NSAA REGULATIONS Proposal Generated by Brent Breckner, Doniphan-Trumbull, School Access Code, District 4 This proposal was submitted on: Oct 28, 2011 This proposal is submitted by: Name: Dan Schiefelbein School: Doniphan-Trumbull NSAA District: 4 The proposal deals with: Yearbook:  Article 2  Section: 2.13.2.1  Page: 12 The section/paragraph/sentence indicates what is to be added/deleted/changed to the current Bylaw/Approved Ruling: ADDITIONS are in all capital letters. (Changes/Deletions are in parentheses.) Spring Sports Classification Process A school's total enrollment FOR FALL AND WINTER SPORTS shall be the total boy and girl enrollment in grades nine, ten, and eleven according to the enrollment figures submitted to the State Department of Education on the last Friday in September of the preceding school year. A SCHOOL'S TOTAL ENROLLMENT FOR SPRING SPORTS SHALL BE THE TOTAL BOY AND GIRL ENROLLMENT IN GRADES NINE, TEN, ELEVEN AND TWELVE ACCORDING TO THE ENROLLMENT FIGURES SUBMITTED TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ON THE LAST FRIDAY IN SEPTEMBER OF THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR. THE NSAA WILL NOT RECLASSIFY SPRING ACTIVITIES/ATHLETICS AFTER SPRING CLASSIFICATIONS HAVE BEEN RELEASED. The section/paragraph/sentence that needs to be added/deleted/changed would read as follows: A school's total enrollment for Fall and Winter sports shall be the total boy and girl enrollment in grades nine, ten, and eleven according to the enrollment figures submitted to the State Department of Education on the last Friday in September of the preceding school year. A school's total enrollment for Spring sports shall be the total boy and girl enrollment in grades nine, ten, eleven, and twelve according to the enrollment figures submitted to the State Department of Education on the last Friday in September of the current school year. The NSAA will not reclassify Spring Activities/Athletics after Spring classifications have been released. Cost Analysis of Proposal: No money will be expended for this proposal. Rationale for the proposed change: School enrollment figures are submitted to the Nebraska Department of Education on the last Friday in September of each school year. Understandably, the NSAA does not use these figures for the CURRENT school year for Fall/Winter sports (Fall seasons have already begun competition; it takes time to organize schools into classifications, etc.) Therefore, these figures are currently used for the following year's classification (Ex. September, 2011 enrollment figures are used for the 2012-13 school year.) While this works for the Fall/Winter sports, these figures are 16 months old when applied to the Spring sports. (Currently, September, 2011 enrollment figures are used for the 2013 spring seasons which is @ 16 months later.) Spring Sports could easily use the CURRENT school year figures for classification purposes due to the approximate 5 month time period between submission of the figures and the start of Spring Sports. When used for the current school year, the enrollment figures will be a true representation of the student population per NSAA school that year. This is important for several reasons: a.) A 16 month timespan is a long time to wait to place enrollment figures into classifications. Data may be outdated and unreliable. The 16 month system is not necessary as modern technology has allowed the NDE to update information and generate required forms more quickly and easily than in the past. b.) Within that 16 month period, mobility of families may impact the enrollment figures. School populations do change yearly. This change has a much greater impact in the smaller classifications as 2 or 3 students may place a school in a higher/lower classification. When competition is at stake, it is important, when available, to use the most fair method of classifying each school according to it's true population for the competition year involved. c.) With less classifications in many Spring sports (A, B, C, D vs. A, B, C1, C2, D1, D2), there is greater disparity between the top/bottom of each class which makes competition difficult when found at the bottom of a classification. When every effort has been made to ensure proper placement in classifications, it is justified and more easily accepted. d.) Lastly, while it is a necessity to use the total boy and girl enrollment in grades nine, ten, and eleven of the preceding school year for classifying Fall sports (there is no knowledge of which high school incoming 9th graders will attend), this process is not necessary for Spring sports. Spring sports could use the enrollment figures from ALL current ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students. If applied @ 5 months later (Spring sports), these figures will be truly representative of individual high school populations actually competing that school year. The NDE and NSAA were contacted for information regarding this proposal. According to NDE representative Chris Cassell, a minimal amount of schools do request a change of their initial enrollment figures throughout the entire year (which could be as late as March...). To assist the NSAA, it is possible for the NDE to provide updated enrollment information (including changes) upon request throughout the year to aid the NSAA in their classification process.