How free and reduced lunch would have altered football classification in the previous cycle

It’s a ton of numbers crunching, and fortunately, somebody else crunched them for us.

The Gazette received a spreadsheet, created by the Iowa High School Athletic Association, on how free and reduced lunch would have impacted football classification on the most recent cycle (the 2021 and 2022 seasons).

The IHSAA recently announced that it has approved a recommendation from the IHSAA classification committee to adopt a model similar to one currently used by the Minnesota State High School League.

The Minnesota system calls for the reduction of a school’s free and reduced lunch count from the annual enrollment to determine a final classification model.

In essence, a district’s BEDS enrollment (grades 9-11 from the previous school year) will be lowered by 40 percent for each student receiving aid for school meals.

Member schools are in the process of voting on the measure, and if it passes that step, the next is a ruling by the Iowa Department of Education.

If the Department of Education rules in favor, the socioeconomic component could come into play in time for the 2023 football season.

This spreadsheet does not include FRL for private schools, which do have the opportunity to submit those numbers to the Iowa Department of Education.

Adjustments were as follows:

The 4A/5A line

Iowa City Liberty and Indianola would have moved up to 5A; Des Moines North and Sioux City West would have moved down to 4A.

The 3A/4A line

North Polk, Adel ADM, Gilbert and Carroll would have moved up to 4A; Glenwood, Webster City, Winterset and Perry would have moved down to 3A.

The 2A/3A line

Dubuque Wahlert, Clear Lake and Iowa Falls-Alden would have moved up to 3A; Atlantic, Hampton-Dumont/CAL and Saydel would have moved down to 2A.

The 1A/2A line

Here’s where the lack of private schools’ noted FRL really takes hold, so this should be taken with a grain of salt.

Private schools Carroll Kuemper, Western Christian, Waterloo Columbus would have moved up to 2A, along with Treynor. Camanche, Osage, Clarion CGD, Shenandoah and Pocahontas Area would have moved down to 1A.

The A/1A line

Class A state champion Grundy Center would have moved up to 1A along with Hinton, Missouri Valley and Alburnett; Van Buren County, South Hardin, West Monona and Central Decatur would have been in Class A.

The 8-Player/Class A line

The enrollment of 20 schools would have been low enough for eligibility to move from Class A to 8-Player, though that boundary number may have adjusted with it.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com