School administrators will take public/private playoff fight to state legislature

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, November 19, 2018 | 5:09 PM

Public school administrators advocating for separate public and private school playoffs will turn their attention to the state legislature.

“It is clear that our best option is now legislative,” the group said Monday in an email to supporters, “and we must focus our efforts to contact our local legislators for help in getting some type of legislation passed.”

The email update comes five days days after Laurel superintendent Leonard Rich, Mill Creek superintendent Bill Hall and New Castle attorney Larry Kelly accepted the PIAA’s invitation and met with the PIAA competition committee in Mechanicsburg. The trio argued there that boundary schools (traditional public) shouldn’t be forced to compete with non-boundary schools (private, parochial and charter) that can draw students from multiple districts.

However, the PIAA administrators in attendance reiterated their long-held stance that a state law from 1972 prevents them from separating public and private — should the PIAA want to make that move.

“They are not going to budge from their position that the law will not allow a boundary/non-boundary type of playoff,” the lengthy email update said, in part, “and judging from some of the post-meeting comments, they seem fit to sit back and let their changes to the transfer rule and success formula suffice as their answer to the problem (which is what we expected).”

The alternate legislative route started in September when Rich, Hall and Kelly testified before the State Athletic Oversight Committee at Heinz Field. The state legislators agreed then to research the original intent of Act 219 of 1972, which made private schools full members of the PIAA.

“We’ve talked about scheduling another (PIAA Playoff Equity) Summit, but it’s not necessary until we get resolution with the law interpretation,” the email said. “We are on that and will give you an update when we have one.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.