The Iowa High School Athletic Association recently announced that an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation for football classifications had been approved by superintendents throughout the state.

This amendment will take socioeconomic factors like a school district’s free and reduced lunch numbers into consideration when looking at how to classify schools for football. To pass, the amendment needed 50 percent of the total membership or 60 percent of those voting to say ‘yes.’ The IHSAA reported 263 of 365 schools voted, with 211 schools approving.

IHSAA will now take the amended Articles of Incorporation to the Iowa State Board of Education meeting on January 12th. Should the Board of Education approve, the new model for classification will be used for 2023 and 2024 football scheduling.

Adair-Casey / Guthrie Center Superintendent Josh Rasmussen tells Raccoon Valley Radio that the new way classifications are done would take 40 percent of a school district’s free and reduced lunch numbers and subtract that from the overall number originally used. He adds that this new system shouldn’t affect AC/GC too much, but that it will help other schools.