NJSIAA to study placement of charter, choice school teams in postseason action
ROBBINSVILLE − The NJSIAA has formed an enrollment/classifications committee to study which group a public school that can enroll student athletes from outside a defined geographic area should be placed in, NJSIAA executive director Colleen Maguire said Wednesday at the association’s monthly executive committee meeting.
The committee, whose first meeting will be next week, will look at charter schools, choice schools, tuition-paying schools and multi-tiered school districts.
“For years, we’ve been getting a lot of concerns, especially from Group 1 schools (Group 1 consists of the NJSIAA’s smallest schools by enrollment),” Maguire said. “They’re Group 1 in numbers because of enrollment, but their football team has numbers of a Group 3-size school because these kids are enrolled there, but they’re allowed to go play sports there.”
Boys basketball became the center of the storm surrounding charter schools this past winter due to the success of College Achieve Asbury Park, which romped to the NJSIAA Group 1 championship in its first season with a roster loaded with potential Division I talent assembled by former Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff.
College Achieve Asbury Park was classified in Group 1 based on its enrollment and was grouped with publicschool teams that could not match up talent-wise.
The team had several players who are from North Jersey.
“I think the policy that allowed it to happen is what people are concerned about,” Maguire said. “How can a public-funded charter school enroll kids that are some 40-50 miles away and yet they are still being classified as a Group 1 school?”
Maguire said the committee, which will consist of school district superintendents who are either members of the association’s executive or advisory committees, will look at everything to try to create more competitive balance.
“One of the models I’m looking at is based on state tournament success and is based on transfers,” Maguire said. “A lot of things are on the table. I think we’ll get a lot of good feedback.”
Charter school classification amendment
An amendment to the NJSIAA’s group classification policy that will enable the NJSIAA office to have small public schools remain in their group and not get bumped to a different classification by a charter school will be voted on by the NJSIAA membership on May 6 at the association’s annual general membership meeting at the Pines Manor in Edison.
The proposal, if approved by a majority vote, will enable the NJSIAA office to classify the public schools first and then classify the charter schools.
“It (placing the charter schools) will be based on their northing number, so they’ll go into the right section based on geography. But, they’ll also go in the right group based on their enrollment,” Maguire said. “It’s protecting the smaller schools because we have had seen in some sports where we’ve had some charter schools come in that are now bumping up what should be a traditional Group 1 school to Group 2.
“But, then it’s been frustrating because in some sports, they’ll (the charter school) tell us prior to the start of the season, we have a varsity team and then they don’t end up having a varsity team. A lot of smaller schools are starting to complain they (the charter schools) are negatively impacting us because there is no consistency.”
The amendment has been endorsed by both the executive and advisory committees.
Also on the ballot May 6 will be for girls ice hockey to be approved as an NJSIAA-sanctioned sport.
Wrestling rule changes
Maguire said if the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) wrestling rules committee announces scoring changes for the 202425 wrestling season later this month, the NJSIAA will adopt them.
It is widely expected that takedowns will soon be worth three points and near falls will be worth two points for a two count, three points for a three count and four points for a four count.
Also, an out of bounds rule with a single point of contact on the mat would allow wrestling to continue.
Spectator code of conduct policy
The NJSIAA hopes to adopt a policy requiring each member school to adopt a spectator code of conduct policy during the 2024-25 school year to go into effect beginning with the 2025-26 school year.
Maguire hoped to have a first reading and voice vote on the policy on Wednesday, but it was tabled to first reading and vote in May, and a second vote in June due to added suggestions by members of the executive committee.
The policy must be provided to the parents/legal guardians of each participating student-athlete, and signed.
The policy will have to include expected and appropriate behavior at each athletic event and what disciplinary action will be taken when the policy is violated.
Violations of the policy must include, at minimum, a suspension from attending future athletic events and an educational component.
Multiple violations must include increased violations within a defined period of time.
The policy must be posted at all venues hosting athletic events, if possible.
Any school that fails to enforce its policy may be subject to discipline by the NJSIAA office and could be prohibited from hosting an NJSIAA state tournament event.
Power point proposal
A proposal to amend how teams can accumulate power points in most sports passed a first vote Wednesday and will be up for a second vote in May.
Under the proposal, all games − not just the 15 best games − up until the cutoff date will count toward a team’s point total.
Power points will be calculated by adding up the total of quality and residual points for each game and then dividing by the number of games played, for an average. The average will then be multiplied by a strength of schedule adjustment to determine a team’s point total.
The proposal does not cover football or wrestling.
International student eligibility bylaw amendment
The executive committee approved a proposal defining the eligibility of international student athletes on a first reading Wednesday and will be up for a second vote in May.
The proposal states an international student is eligible for one season of sub-varsity athletics and one season of varsity athletics per sport if the following are met:
1. The student satisfied the requirements to be considered an international student.
2. Has been assigned to a host family without any prior contact or influence.
3. Was not selected based on their athletic abilities or interest.
4. Does live with district staff members, coaches or boosters.
5. Has completed the NJSIAA International Student Eligibility Form and it has been approved by the NJSIAA.
6. Has not been enrolled previously in another school or participated on another athletic team (club or school) in the United States.