Kansas State High School Activities Association - Criticism

Criticism

KSHSAA has been sharply criticized by many for some of its policies. Much criticism has come over a transfer rule. The rule states that if a student plays a varsity sport at one school, then transfers to another school (without actually moving to a new school district), the student is ineligible to participate in varsity sports for eighteen weeks. The rule was created to prevent private schools from recruiting star players away from public schools, but it also affects students who simply want to go to a new school while continuing to participate in varsity athletics.

Also the KSHSAA has been criticized for its 6A-1A format. Similar sized states, including neighboring Missouri do not have as many classifications, but have more total schools. This over-classification has been deemed a "watered down effect". Many rural schools argue the current classification structure favors schools in larger cities, especially in Classes 5A and 4A, where the discrepancy between the classificaiton numbers is quite large. For the 2008-09 school year, the largest Class 4A school had more than 2.5 times the number of students as the smallest school in the classification.

It has been suggested by many Kansas High School supporters (most specifically in basketball) that 5A and 6A should combine to form one 64 team classification. Other plans call for the 16 biggest 5A schools to jump to 6A. The idea is opposed by schools in the state's three major metropolitan areas (Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita), since the vast majority of 5A and 6A schools are in those areas. Of the 32 Class 6A schools, 13 are located in Johnson County, the state's largest county and home to approximately 17 percent of Kansas' population.