WPIAL survey: 86 percent want separate playoffs for non-boundary schools

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, April 30, 2018 | 10:45 AM

An overwhelming majority of WPIAL schools want to split boundary and non-boundary schools into separate postseason tournaments, according to survey results released Monday.

The WPIAL board of directors sent an online survey last week to all 137 schools. Of the 108 schools that responded, 86 percent said they're in favor of separate tournaments, a move some WPIAL superintendents are trying to force the PIAA to make.

Ninety percent of responders said non-boundary schools have a competitive advantage over schools with established geographical boundaries.

Among the schools that responded to the survey, only 15 were non-boundary schools, an unofficial designation that includes private and charter schools. Those 15 schools would equal 14 percent of the survey total.

The six-question survey also found that 72 percent of schools believe the PIAA should apply its six-classification format to individual sports, not just team sports. Only 24 percent of responders thought current PIAA transfer rules were adequate.

The WPIAL itself will not take any action based on the survey results, WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley said.

“The question is, What's the PIAA going to do?” O'Malley said.

The WPIAL shared the results with PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi, who said Monday he wasn't surprised by the results, but also wasn't sure the survey accurately represented sentiment across the state's other 11 districts.

“You're only talking one district,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi also was critical of the questions themselves.

“I think the writing of the questionnaire leaves a lot to be desired,” he said, “because it promotes leading answers.”

The survey was conducted at the request of New Castle superintendent John Sarandrea, a member of the WPIAL board. School administrators in his intermediate unit, which includes parts of Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties, are leading an effort to fix any competitive advantage non-boundary schools have over others.

“They were of the opinion that it's not fair right now,” O'Malley said, “that the non-boundaries have a competitive advantage. They asked, would we be willing to gather some feedback?”

The surveys were due by last Friday.

Laurel superintendent Leonard Rich wrote a letter to Lombardi last month encouraging the PIAA to split boundary and non-boundary schools. Rich noted that in the past three seasons, 38 of 64 state basketball finalists and 23 of 32 champions were non-boundary schools.

Lombardi has called Rich's proposal a “nonstarter,” and said Monday the PIAA considers this to be a legislative issue. The PIAA board attempted to address non-boundary schools four years ago, Lombardi said, but was thwarted by the state legislature.

That PIAA history was discussed April 24 when Lombardi met with state senators Scott Martin, R-Lancaster County, and Robert Tomlinson, R-Bucks County, he said.

“The board was basically threatened (in 2012) with legislation that said schools would not be allowed to join an athletic association that classified schools as boundary and non-boundary,” Lombardi said. “That's why the board unanimously voted to reject it in March of 2012. That's why they haven't revisited it, because they know the process they went through.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.