AHSAA reclassification proposal could see Russellville aligned with former 5A rivals

As the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s January 23rd self-imposed date to announce reclassification for the 2026-2028 school years approaches, it’s a distinct possibility that Russellville High School could be reunited with some former rivals in the revamped plan.

After delaying the reclassification announcement from the original December 15th date, the AHSAA continues to wrestle with the issues of how to classify private schools and whether to group them into their own classification, which would mean no private-public school playoff games for at least the next two years.

The divisive issue results from private schools’ concerns they are disadvantaged by the existing competitive balance formula that weights their enrollment with a 1.35 multiplier, resulting in higher classification levels than their actual enrollment would support.

On the other side, public schools have long discussed what they believe to be ‘inherent advantages’ private schools enjoy because of their additional financial resources and ability to recruit.

Another factor in the debate is Alabama’s CHOOSE Act, legislation passed in 2024 that created refundable tax credits, called Education Savings Accounts, which may be used for tuition and expenses for parents to use at ‘participating schools,’ many of which are private schools.

Essentially, the act allows parents to take their tax dollars with them to a school they believe will better educate their child, including private schools.

While the AHSAA sets standards only for athletics, the CHOOSE Act deals with academic standards, but the transfer of these tax funds from Alabama public schools to private schools is the root of continued debate.

Rep. Jamie Kiel (R-Russellville) supported the CHOOSE Act, saying these dollars are the taxpayers’ money and the act simply allows the taxpayer to direct where the educational funding for their child goes.

Kiel has also been critical of the competitive advantage he believes Alabama private schools enjoy in athletics over their public school counterparts.

Those concerns led him to support legislation last year that would have excluded English Language Learner students (those not fluent in the English language) from schools’ average daily membership, used to determine enrollment and athletic classification.

“You have schools with 25% ELL students who can’t speak English and don’t participate in extracurriculars competing against schools with no ELL students. That creates a competitive advantage for those schools,” Kiel said.

That bill did not advance out of committee in last year’s Legislative session, but Kiel said he would support it again if reintroduced this year.

Separate public and private school state playoffs and championships are already in effect in states including Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.

With the removal of private schools into their own classification, one AHSAA proposal calls for 32 6A schools and 32 7A schools, along with approximately 60 in 1A-5A schools.

Under this proposal, Phil Campbell, Red Bay and Tharptown High Schools would be in 2A, Belgreen and Vina in 1A and Russellville in 5A, along with former region rivals including Muscle Shoals, Cullman, Decatur, Brewer and Jasper.

Although a leaked copy of the proposal did not show proposed regional alignment, it would be a likely scenario Russellville would be grouped with 5A schools located closest to it.

That could result in RHS competing in a 5A region with several schools currently classified as 6A, a significantly more competitive alignment than the current one, which has seen RHS dominate in Region 7 varsity sports, particularly baseball and  football.

A source with knowledge of the AHSAA told the FFP there are other reclassification proposals under consideration, but the likelihood remains strong that private schools will be placed in their own classification.