Lawmakers push for separate playoffs for public, private schools in Pennsylvania high school athletics
Trending
Back in March, Bishop Guilfoyle Academy in Blair County defeated Lancaster County's Linville Hill Christian in the Class A girls basketball state title game.
The two private schools had both defeated other non-public schools in the semifinals.
Bishop Guilfoyle -- whose team featured three sophomores and two first-year players in the starting lineup -- faced a public school in the first round of the state playoffs. But the team then faced only other private schools in the four rounds of games ending in the state title. It was no anomaly.
The Class A state title game in boys' basketball featured two private schools too. Private schools won the state championships in all six classes in boys basketball and four of those title games were between non-public schools.
The controversy over the dominance in scholastic sports of private and charter schools, dubbed non-boundary schools, by critics, has simmered for years. But this week, legislation that would tackle the issue began moving in the state House.
House Bill 41 would authorize the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to create a separate playoff for private and charter schools. The bill was approved by the committee with bipartisan support in a 20-6 vote. It's now awaiting further action before the full House.
The PIAA has indicated that it can't bar private and charter schools from competing in the same playoffs as public schools, Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, said.
HB 41 would change that. The move comes in response to complaints that boundary and non-boundary schools are competing under different rules in the state.
The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference opposes the bill.
"We continue to oppose separate PIAA championships. HB 41 would impose an undue burden on our schools and students," Eric Failing, executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, said in a statement provided to CapitolWire.
PIAA records reviewed by CapitolWire showed that:
n Since 2020, private and charter schools have won 83% (25 of 30) of the state championships in the six boys basketball size classes.
n Over that period, private and charter schools have won 63% (19 of 30) of state girls basketball championships.
n Private and charter schools have won 33% (10 of 30) of football championships over the last five seasons. Six of those 10 titles came in the last two years.
n In 2021, a private school won the Class A state title in football, the only non-public school to win a state championship in the sport that year. This year, private schools won the state titles in four of the six classes.
Private and charter schools can recruit players. Traditional public schools must field teams of students who live within the geographic boundaries of school districts.
A girls basketball team raised eyebrows enough to inspire legislation, Conklin said at a meeting of the House Intergovernmental Affairs and Operations Committee.
Conklin said he received a phone call from a referee who described how he'd just officiated a championship game won by a private school that recruited players "worldwide" and won the title so handily that the game was out of reach by half-time.
Conklin said that the issue prompted so much frustration and anger there was discussion about public schools leaving the PIAA.
"The current system isn't just putting public school athletes at a disadvantage, it's endangering their health and safety," Conklin said. "It's forcing students from public schools, which must recruit from within district boundaries, to compete against students from private schools, which can recruit from anywhere and amass teams that are larger and stronger."