Lehi Sports
Realignment cycle begins again, with tweaks
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) has begun the biennial process of adjusting classification and region assignments for its member schools, which number 163 at present.
As has often been the case in recent years, some adjustments to the procedures to establish these assignments have been made in an attempt to refine the process based on results from the previous cycle’s alignments.
In a press release sent out Friday (Aug. 21), the UHSAA announced that the “Board of Trustees met and finalized the Formats and Procedures for the 2027-29 statewide alignment of member schools. The approved formats and procedures outline the process used to establish classifications and regions for UHSAA competition.
“The UHSAA conducts a statewide realignment of its member schools every two years to establish classifications and regions for competition.
“Beginning with the 2027-2029 alignment cycle, member schools are placed into classifications using a Composite Realignment Index (CRI), which combines school enrollment, socio-economic status (SES) and competitive performance.
“The UHSAA Board of Trustees establishes the number of schools in each classification and retains final authority over all classification and region assignments, including consideration of geographic factors and appeals.
“Realignment includes both a general alignment and a separate football alignment. Region assignments are finalized in December of even-numbered years, with competition under the new alignment beginning the following August.”
As indicated in this document, the Board will now apply a new “Composite Realignment Index (CRI)” as part of the realignment process. The UHSAA Handbook gives this explanation of what the CRI is and how it will be applied, as follows.
C. Procedures for the 2027-2029 Alignment of Schools as Adopted by the Board of Trustees
1. Classifications are based on October 1 data for junior and sophomore classes, excluding self-contained students, as reported by the State Office of Education in even calendar years.
2. UHSAA member schools shall be placed into classifications based on a Composite Realignment Index (CRI) score. The CRI score is calculated using a combination of enrollment (size), socio-economic status (SES), and competitive performance. The number of schools in each classification shall be established by the Board of Trustees (BOT). Schools will be assigned to classifications based on a CRI score with higher scores placed in higher classifications and lower scores placed in lower classifications. A school may submit an appeal for classification placement based on geographic considerations. The BOT will review all appeals and determine if an adjustment is warranted. The BOT retains the responsibility and final authority for alignment of all UHSAA member schools.
3. To accommodate geographic adjustments, regions may have schools in different classifications.
Since this is the first time the CRI has been used, it’s uncertain at this point how the local high schools will be affected by this change. In addition to these modifications, “Section B. Format” includes the following new language.
5. Prior to the first consideration of assigned regions or divisions, any school may apply to compete in a higher classification for a specific sport or activity if the school is already competing at that higher level in that sport or activity, or if it has finished with an average in the top 15 percent of its classification in that sport during the past three seasons.
Application does not guarantee approval. Once a school is placed in a higher classification, it must remain there for that sport or activity for the full duration of the established two-year alignment. In the general alignment, schools will remain in their assigned classification and region during region competition. However, the school will compete in the higher classification for postseason competition.
Under the system used in the previous realignment, Wasatch joined Region 3 for swimming only and Jordan joined the league for baseball only. Both of these schools had a definite impact on the course of competition last school year.
The way the process turned out last time, there was a large disparity between the sizes of the classifications. There are 17 schools in Class 6A but twice that number, 34, in Class 4A and 29 in Class 5A now. These three classes include most schools in the more urban areas of the state.
For the next cycle, the Trustees have decided that the minimum number of schools in each general classification as well as each football classification will be 21 for Classes 6A, 5A and 4A, and a minimum of eight for the smaller-school classifications.
This will likely mean that some schools which successfully petitioned to move down in classification in the last cycle will be relocated to the competition level they previously escaped.
Since Class 6A is going to add a minimum of four more schools, there are likely to be changes in Region 3 for our local institutions as well. It has been very challenging to fill schedules with only four schools to play in league competition.
The size of classifications matters for an additional reason now. Starting in the present school year, only 16 schools per classification will advance to the state tournaments, eliminating the preliminary rounds that used to allow more schools to participate in post-season play.
For the moment, the RPI index will be the determining factor, but other formulas are under consideration for future use.
The timeline for the 2027-29 realignment cycle starts with a first meeting on November 19 when the initial classification placement of all schools based on the new CRI will be presented.
In the second meeting on December 1, schools may apply for a higher classification in a specific sport or activity, and geographic adjustments will be considered. In addition, there will be a second consideration of classification placement and a first consideration of region assignments.
A week later, on December 8, there will be a Zoom public hearing at 6:30 p.m. followed by a second consideration of assigned regions the next morning (Dec. 9) at 9 a.m.
Final placements are scheduled to be announced on December 17. However, last year some appeals were made after this date, and the resulting adjustments had Region 1 and Region 3 ending up with just five schools each while Region 2 had seven.
The Lehi Free Press will continue to follow all the developments as the realignment process continues.
