Private Schools Won't Be Forced to Higher Classes

By Toby Rowland, NEWS 9 Sports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The OSSAA Board of Directors unanimously voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have forced Oklahoma's non-public and government schools to play in higher classes next year. Instead, the Board voted to form a committee to take a closer look at the perceived advantages private schools have on the field of competition, and bring back a better plan of action.

"The Oklahoma Plan" was a hybrid of private school multiplier systems used by other states. It would have added to a non-public school's ADM (Average Daily Membership) half of the ADM of the public school district in which the non-public school sits. The proposal would have in effect forced nearly all of Oklahoma's 21 non-public and government schools to compete two classes higher than their current classification.

In a two hour public meeting, board members heard passionate arguments from public school superintendents and state legislators claiming that their students were not facing an even playing field when competing against private schools that can control enrollment.

Non-public superintendents and more state legislators countered that not all private schools should be lumped into the same conversation, and that they all face different challenges and restrictions ranging from parochial to Native American.