4A or 5A? That is the question for Kosciusko High School.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association Executive Committee voted unanimously last week to go from six to seven classifications, effective with the 2023-24 schools. The three largest classifications – 5A, 6A and 7A -- will each have 24 schools, totaling 72, and the other four will have about 42 schools.
Kosciusko is currently a 4A school based upon enrollment figures compiled last fall and is the 73rd largest school with 627 students in grades 9-12. Enrollment figures for all schools will be updated in the fall.
Kosciusko could end up as one of the largest schools in 4A or one of the smallest in 5A depending on whether the enrollment moves into the top 72. It will likely depend upon the number of current eighth graders who will moved up as freshmen in the fall, compared with the number of seniors who graduate. The current 72nd largest school, Clarksdale, has only four more students than Kosciusko.
Kosciusko athletic director Macy Wilbanks said the current eighth grade class is “abnormally large.”
As the 32nd smallest school, Ethel will probably remain in 1A, but a move to 2A is possible. The current enrollment of 168 is 18 less than the 43rd smallest school, Enterprise-Lincoln.
McAdams is one of the state’s smallest schools and will definitely remain in 1A
MHSAA executive director Rickey Neaves said the addition of a seventh classification results from a gap in enrollment figures between the largest and smallest schools in each class. The gap is especially pronounced in 6A, the largest class. Based on enrollment figures for the current two-year period (2021-23), Tupelo is the largest 6A school with 1,907 students, Center Hill the smallest with 1,047, a gap of 860 students (82 percent).
The disparity is less in other classes.
Currently, there are 32 schools in 6A and 5A and approximately 45 in the other four classes.
Neaves said the current classifications leaves some schools at a competitive disadvantage because of enrollment gaps. If 6A is reduced to 24 schools, the gap between Tupelo and Terry, currently the 24th largest 6A school with 1,219 students, would be reduced to 688.
“We have heard a lot from the coaches and administrators from the five to 10 schools at the bottom of each class about the discrepancy (in enrollment),” Neaves said. “We've put forward a proposal that we think will benefit competition at every level and benefit every school in the state.”
If Kosciusko moves up to 5A, it will mean mostly new rivalries. The schools Kosciusko plays in most sports are Choctaw Central, Leake Central, Louisville, Northeast Lauderdale, and West Lauderdale. West Lauderdale is currently the 76th largest school with 599 students and could move up to 5A with an increase in attendance. The other four almost certainly will remain in 4A.
“We will see where everything falls and we will play whoever they put in front of us,” said Kosciusko athletic director Macy Wilbanks.
