Date: 10/26/2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUSTIN, TX— Conference 2A football will be divided into two divisions prior to the start

of the 10-11 season and the state championship football games in Conferences 1A - 4A will be

played at pre-determined sites after decisions handed down by the UIL Legislative Council

on Monday.

As a result of the referendum ballot, Conference 2A superintendents across the state voted

to divide football brackets into two divisions (Division I and Division II) prior to the start

of the season. Conference 2A superintendents voted 121-75 in favor of the rule change.

The results of the referendum ballot are binding, and will take effect in the 2009-10 school

year. Since 2006, Conference 1A 11-man and Conference 1A six-man football have been

split into two division.

The council unanimously passed a measure to have the Conference 1A - 4A football state

championships at pre-determined sites beginning in the 2010-11 school year. The UIL has

determined the site for the Conference 5A state football championships since 2006, and

both games are televised. Schools involved in the games will continue to make all decisions

regarding the games other than the site and time of game.

What could the new Districts look like?

The 2009 draft study split Class AA into two divisions with Division I enrollment range of 292-429 and 102 schools and Division II enrollment range of 200-291 and 103 schools. The draft alignments in the representations below are based on October 2007 enrollment data so the actual district alignments could be very different. The UIL uses a formula to to arrange schools in districts so that the number of schools in each conference and districts are similar. So, with October 2009 enrollment figures due to the UIL, alignments won't be known until February 2010. But Class 2A FOOTBALL will be split during the next alignment.

What does this mean?

THIS NEW PLAN IS ONLY FOR FOOTBALL, THE DISTRICTS WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR THE OTHER SPORTS.

This plan divides each conference into two divisions in football. The largest half of each conference is grouped into a division and the smaller half of the conference is divided into a separate division. The large school division has 16 districts and the smallest half of each conference has 16 districts. Approximately six to eight schools are placed into each district. The same number of schools from each district advance to the playoffs. Twelve champions would be crowned as is done currently.

Possible Advantages:

• Provides more clarity and less confusion regarding who is Division I and who is Division II.

• Clearly defines divisions prior to the season rather than at the end of district play.

• Creates more equity in relation to the largest and smallest school within a division.

• Eliminates two schools with the largest enrollments in the state advancing to the playoffs in the smaller enrollment division.

• Eliminates the smallest schools in a conference grouped with the largest schools in a conference.

Possible Disadvantges:

• Additional travel.

• Other team sport activities could want the same division alignment.

• Creates an additional group of schools that will be the smallest within a division.

• Creates administrative inconvenience.

• Scheduling issues could occur in multi-school districts that share stadiums.