IHSA adjusts classifications for several area teams

BLOOMINGTON, IL (River Radio Sports Central) — The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has made adjustments to the classifications of a number of teams throughout the state, including several in the region.

The changes are due to a correction in the school enrollment numbers provided by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to the IHSA.

Benton and Columbia boys and girls cross country teams will now compete in 1A rather than 2A. Harrisburg, Massac County, and Roxana all will be 1A instead of 2A in boys golf, while Centralia will now be 1A in girls golf.

Salem and Richland County will be 1A in boys soccer and 2A in all the four-class sports: volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball.

Football classifications are not determined until pairings night, but the posted updated enrollment numbers will be used.

IHSA policy stipulates the ISBE enrollement report from September 30, 2024 would be used to determine classes for the 2025-26 school year. Back in the spring, the IHSA made three changes to their classification policy. In an update, the IHSA says “In order to workshop those potential changes last year, they needed up-to-date enrollment figures and collected enrollments from our schools via our website, with the stipulation that the enrollments were not official, and that ISBE enrollments would still be collected and audited against the school-submitted enrollments per IHSA Policy. Due to delays in retrieving the enrollment data from ISBE, we posted those unofficial numbers on our website in June to better help schools predict their classifications based on the changes passed in March.”

The ISBE update was not sent out until mid-August. At that point, several schools questioned the numbers. Upon further review, those numbers were not accurate. ISBE sent the IHSA the correct data last week, which led to the changes.

According to the IHSA, “nearly every public school changed enrollment by at least a handful of students, give or take” resulting in some schools seeing their classifications adjusted.

Here is the full list of teams changing classes. Changes in girls volleyball apply to other four-class sports (basketball, baseball, and softball).