When the TSSAA Board of Control meets to vote on a reclassification plan Wednesday, it will likely usher in the most drastic changes in Tennesse high school sports in more than 10 years.

After months of gathering information from school administrators and coaches across the state, the board will decide which of two proposed plans will be used to classify public school athletics for the 2009-10 school year and three after that.

There had been three plans, but according to Sequatchie County High School principal and Board of Control member Tommy Layne, leaving things as they are is no longer an option. Layne said the proposal most likely to be approved is the “Z plan,” which would greatly affect football but leave all other sports relatively as they are.

“We know we can’t continue with things the way they are, so that leaves us with two choices,” Layne said. “The Z plan is the one most of the coaches we’ve spoken to favor, but there are a lot of details we’ll have to discuss at the meeting to make sure we understand how it would affect all sports.

“It could be possible that football will use the Z plan and all other sports use the other plan. Those are the type things we have to decide on. I like the Z plan for football, but I don’t like the idea of adding another football championship. I think five (in Division I) is enough for that sport.”

No matter which plan is adopted, not since the public-private split in 1997 will there be more drastic changes.

Under the Z plan there would be three classifications in Division I football for the regular season, which would mean combining many of the current regions into larger districts. For the postseason, classifications would expand to six, depending on a predetermined enrollment figure, with AAA being split into 6A and 5A, AA into 4A and 3A and Class A into 2A and 1A.

The top two teams from each district would automatically qualify for their respective class’s playoffs, with the rest of the postseason bracket filled by wild-card teams according to records. This proposal would eliminate teams with losing records from advancing to the playoffs. Last season, 22 teams with losing records advanced to the state football playoffs.

The other proposal is known as the “urban-rural” plan. Under this plan, schools in a metro area would be put in the same region and those outside the metro area would be in a separate region. For example, Grace Academy, with an enrollment of about 250 high school students, would compete in the same region as much larger schools such as Brainerd, Central and Hixson.

Escalating travel costs and the number of new schools becoming TSSAA members — seven are joining this year — have made this reclassification process one of the most time-consuming in recent memory. Because several area districts and regions are spread out, travel costs have become an enormous factor.

“This is just a very unique period for us,” TSSAA executive director Ronnie Carter said. “With so many new schools joining and because our state is so spread out, cutting costs is a major part of what we’re trying to accomplish. And that has really accelerated in the last few months with fuel prices skyrocketing.

“We’re trying to find the plan that will benefit the highest number of our programs.”

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