Kansas Board of Education approves amendment for private school multiplier

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas State Board of Education approved an amendment Wednesday that would enact a private-school multiplier in an effort to level the playing field in high school athletics. The issue now must go to the Kansas State Legislature.

The vote was 6-4 in favor of the amendment proposed by the Kansas State High School Activities Association. Private schools that have excelled in team activities would be most heavily impacted by the change.

Under a “championship factor,” a school that wins between five and nine championships during a five-year period would see its enrollment be multiplied by 0.15. For schools that win 10 or more championships in a five-year period, the multiplier becomes 0.30 with the end goal being to push winning schools up a classification to higher levels of competition.

During the last eight years, private schools have gobbled up all of the Class 4A state football titles, with Bishop Miege winning six consecutive titles from 2014-19 and its Eastern Kansas League competitor St. James Academy winning the title in both 2020 and 2021.

In June, KSHSAA held a vote for member schools. In total, 216 schools voted yes, while 139 voted no. Only 16.7 percent of 6A schools and 47.2 percent of 5A schools voted in favor of the amendment, but 83.3 percent of 4A schools were supportive of the motion.

Included in the amendment is a Geographic Population Factor, which takes into consideration public school attendance in the area in which the private school is located. There also is a Socio-Economic Population Factor, which measures the amount of free or reduced students in the school.

Schools cannot move up more than one classification based upon the multiplier, and the multiplier enrollment count would not force a school to move from 8-person to 11-person football or from 6-person to 8-person football.