sml007

Mike Mitchell (NFL player), Mike Stowers and Nick Sheffield all transferred to Highlands from Covington Catholic. And... it was not for the education.

I agree with you 100%.

We agree on that. I have no problems with teams playing up by choice, but only when it make sense geographically. Highlands is not the issue at all. When Highlands moved up, it made sense geographically. I believe that with 6 classes, moving up would have to be based upon geography because teams would take advantage of a "move up if you want to" and try like heck to move away from schools like Highlands. See Johnson Central. Here is a hypothetical scenario: Team A is a struggling 2A team with 170 boys currenty in the school. They were classified 2A using numbers that are already four years old when they had 200 boys in the school. The numbers used to classify Team A do not reflect the current enrollment. Current enrollment numbers show that they would be a middle of the pack sized 1A team based upon the numbers. Team A would have a much better opportunity for success in 1A, which based on the current numbers is where they belong. Conversely, Team B was classified 1A based on the outdated enrollment when they had 180 boys in the school, but currently have 210 boys in the school. The current enrollment would make them a middle of the pack 2A school. Should team A be forced to play up? Or should they be moved to 1A? Should Team B be allowed to stay in 1A although current enrollment says they should be in 2A? In Kentucky, Team A (170 Boys) would be forced to stay in the larger 2A class for 2 more years and while Team B (210 boys) is allowed to stay in in the smaller 1A class for 2 more years.

You actually helped make my point. You do not care about Boyle County's classification because both teams are classified correctly. This is the point. You could not realistically justify any complaints because both teams are classified correctly. When teams are classified incorrectly and belong in a different class, people have a valid argument.

It is not about dodging competition. It is about being classified correctly per current enrollment number and putting schools in the class they rightfully belong. Bowling Green is not dodging Highlands by being in 5A. That is where they belong.

I agree with you on this. Julian has done great things for football in this state and puts in a ton of work, as does the BOC. It is great that more kids are participating in football. As stated above, my only issue is that if we are going to have 6 classes, let's get it right. The original idea of 6 classes was sold to the schools as after 2 years, we will look at this and make changes. When the KHSAA saw the nightmare of how many teams needed to be moved classification and re-districted, they came up with a arbitrary enrollment change percentage number that would allow for minimal changes in classification. We will just have to agree to disagree on the timetable of reclassification. I actually really like when 1 of the team keeps winning titles.

Of course you do not care. Caring about stuff is all relative. If Bowling Green was in 4A and was really supposed to be in 5A, you would care because Bowling Green would continue to lose title games to Highlands.

Let's put it this way. The KHSAA reclassified football during the 2010/2011 school year for the 2011 season. They used 2 year average enrollment numbers from the 2008/2009 and the 2009/2010 school years. The current seniors that just finished their football seasons were freshman during the 2009/2010 school year. This means the enrollment numbers used for the classification are outdated because zero kids that will play football in the 2013 and 2014 seasons were actually counted in the enrollment numbers used during the most recent re-classification. So for example, 3A Bourbon County currently has 439 boys and 4A Lexington Catholic currently has 402 boys. Based upon actual current enrollment, Bourbon County should be a middle of the pack 4A school. Instead, they will compete in 3A. New enrollment numbers are available. Why not make the class system current?

That is not what was said. He is referring to the idea that we don't reclassify every two years because it is too much work for the khsaa.

Re-classification truthfully does not affect me one bit. You are correct that people would be grumbling regardless, but 4 years is not what is best for kids. 6 classes could be what is best for kids, but not when there are no defined boundary lines.

I will put this in terms of Cooper. If Cooper were in 4A they would have had to beat Highlands and/or CovCath and LexCath and/or Boyle County just to make it to the Finals. All of which have won titles in the past 10 years. In 5A, only Bowling Green has won a state title in the past 10 years. Which path looks harder to you?

You are correct that 2 years would be better. If we are doing what is best for kids, the amount of work should be irrelevant. The state used 2 year averages including numbers from the 2008/2009 school year for the last 2011 - 2014 reclassification. The senior kids that played football this year were in 8th grade during the 2008/2009 school year. That means that the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons had and will have ZERO kids playing football that were actually counted during the last full reclassification. This is a much bigger problem in 6 classes than 4 classes. With 6 classes, you have 5 dividing lines and school growth or shrinkage means a lot more teams are affected. I would say as many a 8 schools in 1A and 6A could be out of class and as many as 16 schools in each class of 2A through 5A. When you are talking about between 32 -40 schools per class, this is a very big deal.

You are kidding, right? Rankings are meaningless. Let's see who from each class has won championships on the field in the past 10 years regardless of classification. 4A = Highlands, CovCath, Boyle County, Lexington Catholic 5A = Bowling Green And, I am in no way, shape, or form connected to any of the schools listed in the examples. Especially, Johnson Central.

I agree with you. I appreciate your approach. You are doing what you deem is best for your child. The approach I mentioned is also very common, but what parent is really going to say that they sent their kid to Highlands, Beechwood, etc. because of football. It is much more socially accepted and politically correct to say it is due to academics and football is just the 'icing on the cake'.

That means the bottom 75% (or most of the school) scored pretty low.

IMO, it is not a bad thing to choose a school for athletics, drama, band, etc. The issue is the political correctness of saying it is based on academics. Let's call it what it is. My son is good at football. What schools are good at football? Create list. What school with the best football program has the best academics? Narrow choices. Select the best football school with the best academics. The list is created with football first, not education.

Correct, but you would be sending your kid to NewCath because of football. With all things equal or close, you send your kids to the better football program. That is the point. It is not bad or wrong, but it is not because of academics. A kid can play football at both places. You choose NCC because of the chance to win a championship.

Based on your examples, the root or reason for sending your kids to those schools would be athletics. You basically just said you would find the best athletics programs in those sports and if the education is strong enough, that is where you would send your child. They can play athletics anywhere. If it is about education, Highlands offers all of the sports you mentioned.

Why to the first bolded? Why not to the second bolded? Also, according to the Diocese of Covington, Brossart had a 2011 ACT composite average 23.3. NCC had a composite of 21.6. They both have football. Why NCC? If this score means anything, your child would get a better education at Brossart.

All teachers MUST by state law get a masters degree within 5 years of teaching. Also all teachers work and get paid on a rank system. Rank 1 is 2 masters degrees, Rank 2 is 1 masters degree, and Rank 3 is just a bachelors degree. It is based on a salary schedule. You would also be surprised at the amount of money spent at schools in low income areas. They can spend away, but it does not matter. Without support from home, the schools will fail. My point is that from an educational standpoint, your child would be just as successful at Campbell County as he would at Highlands, because education is obviously important to you.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I have stated that the Ft. Thomas kids are the foundation many times. This is not debatable.

Fair enough, but you do realize that the success of Ft. Thomas Independent schools has WAY more to do with parental support and community expectations than anything else. If you switched the teaching staffs at Covington Holmes and Highlands, the results would not change. Covington Holmes would still be low achieving and Highlands would still be elite.

So did these kids make a difference or not? We are talking about division 1 athletes.

So basically what you are saying is that your child is going to learn to read, do math and all other basic elementary skills that are needed to be successful in middle/high school at an elementary school in Campbell County, but then he is going to go to Highlands because of the education?

Agreed. At least the best players would.