NCHSAA realignment to bring major changes for Charlotte-, Raleigh-area schools

A new realignment proposal from the N.C. High School Athletic Association would have a major effect on schools in the Triangle and Mecklenburg County areas.

In Mecklenburg County, West Charlotte and West Mecklenburg high schools will drop to 3A classification in athletics next year, under a realignment proposal released Friday by the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

The Lions and Hawks are among five Mecklenburg schools affected by the proposal, which would cause changes for 30 schools in the Observer area.

The athletic association realigns schools in any of four size classifications every four years, but a new and more complex system is being used this time. The changes, which must be approved by the state board next month, would go into effect for the start of the 2021-22 academic year.

The realignment proposal announced Friday does not separate schools into conferences, but the NCHSAA says it plans to announce proposed conferences next Thursday.

The new system for realignment uses three factors -- enrollment, which has been the sole number used in the past; athletic success by the school’s teams over the past three years; and the Identified Student Percentage, which is the percentage of the school’s students receiving free or reduced-price lunches.

“The new system still relies heavily on ADM (average daily enrollment),” said James Alverson, a spokesman for the NCHSAA.

The five Mecklenburg County schools impacted by realignment are West Charlotte, West Mecklenburg, Charlotte Catholic, Lake Norman Charter and Community School of Davidson.

West Charlotte and West Mecklenburg each would drop from 4A to 3A. The other schools would move up one classification - Charlotte Catholic to 4A, Lake Norman Charter to 3A, and Community School of Davidson to 2A.

Que Tucker, Commissioner of the NCHSAA, said the new realignment divides the state nearly in half, with East and West regions. The West consists of 45 counties and 216 schools, with 55 counties and 209 schools in the East.

Another big change with the realignment this time is that each region’s schools will be evenly divided (or as close as possible) into 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A. Recent realignments have put 20 percent of the region’s schools in the 4A division, 30 percent each in 3A and 2A, and 20 percent in 1A.

The realignment will have a huge impact on some current conferences while not touching others.

For example, seven of the Southern Carolina 3A Conference’s eight schools are affected. Six of them are moving up. One, Monroe, will drop to 2A. Only Parkwood, in southern Union County, will be unaffected.

Meanwhile, the Southwestern 4A Conference’s eight members all will remain in 4A.

But the conferences could look very different, based on what the NCHSAA announces next week.

Here is how the realignment will affect current Observer-area conferences:

Southwestern 4A: Butler, East Mecklenburg, Garinger, Hickory Ridge, Independence, Myers Park, Porter Ridge and Rocky River remain 4A.

SoMeck 7 4A: West Mecklenburg drops to 3A. Ardrey Kell, Berry Academy, Harding, Olympic, Providence and South Mecklenburg unchanged.

I-Meck 4A: West Charlotte drops to 3A. Hopewell, Hough, Lake Norman, Mallard Creek, Mooresville, North Mecklenburg and Vance (renamed Julius Chambers High) are unchanged.

Northwestern 3A-4A: Alexander Central and Watauga move from 3A to 4A. South Caldwell and McDowell remain 4A; and Freedom, Hickory and Statesville remain 3A.

Big South 3A: Hunter Huss drops to 2A. Ashbrook, Crest, Forestview, Kings Mountain, North Gaston and Stuart Cramer unchanged.

North Piedmont 3A: South Iredell up to 4A. East Rowan, Jesse Carson, North Iredell, Statesville and West Rowan unchanged.

South Piedmont 3A: A.L. Brown, Cox Mill and West Cabarrus up to 4A. Central Cabarrus, Concord, Jay M. Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus unchanged.

Southern Carolina 3A: Charlotte Catholic, Cuthbertson, Marvin Ridge, Piedmont, Sun Valley and Weddington up to 4A. Monroe drops to 2A. Parkwood unchanged.

Rocky River 2A-3A: Central Academy up to 3A. Anson County, Forest Hills, Mount Pleasant and West Stanly remain 2A. Montgomery Central remains 3A.

Foothills 2A: Fred T. Foard and Hibriten up to 3A. Draughn drops to 1A. Bunker Hill, East Burke, Patton, West Caldwell and West Iredell unchanged.

South Fork 2A: East Lincoln, Lake Norman Charter and North Lincoln up to 3A. Lincolnton, Maiden, Newton-Conover, North Lincoln and West Lincoln unchanged.

Southwestern 2A: South Point up to 3A. Burns, Chase, East Gaston, East Rutherford, R-S Central and Shelby unchanged.

Central Carolina 2A: North Davidson, Oak Grove and South Rowan up to 3A. Thomasville drops to 1A. Central Davidson, East Davidson, Ledford, Lexington, Salisbury and West Davidson unchanged.

Piedmont Athletic 1A: Community School of Davidson and Pine Lake Prep up to 2A. Bradford Prep, Carolina International, Langtree Charter, Mountain Island Charter, Queens Grant Charter and Union Academy unchanged.

South Piedmont 1A: Lincoln Charter up to 2A. Bessemer City, Cherryville, Christ the King, Highland Tech, Piedmont Community Charter and Thomas Jefferson Academy unchanged.

Also: Richmond Senior moves to the East and stays 4A. Ashe County moves from 2A to 3A.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle

Wake County Schools affected

A dozen Raleigh-area high schools could change classification in athletics next year, under a realignment proposal released Friday by the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

The realignment will leave the area’s 4A schools untouched, although new conference affiliations could have an impact.

Two Wake County schools would be affected, with both Franklin Academy and Raleigh Charter moving from 1A to 2A.

Five local 3A schools - Chapel Hill, Clayton, Cleveland, East Chapel Hill, and Northern Durham - would move up to the 4A ranks.

Here is how the realignment will affect current Raleigh-area conferences (keep in mind that the new conferences announced next week could look very different):

Northern Athletic 4A: No changes. Corinth Holders, Heritage, Knightdale, Rolesville, Wake Forest and Wakefield remain 4A.

CAP 7 4A: No changes. Broughton, Cardinal Gibbons, Enloe, Leesville Road, Millbrook, Sanderson and Southeast Raleigh remain 4A.

South Wake Athletic 4A: No changes. Apex, Apex Friendship, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Middle Creek and South Garner remain 4A.

Triangle 6 4A: No changes. Athens Drive, Cary, Green Hope, Green Level, Hillside, Jordan, Panther Creek and Riverside remain 4A.

Greater Neuse 3A: Clayton and Cleveland up to 4A. East Wake, Smithfield-Selma, South Johnston and West Johnston unchanged.

Big 8 3A: Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill and Northern Durham up to 4A. Cedar Ridge, Northwood, Orange, Southern Durham and Vance County unchanged.

Mid-State 2A: Carrboro and Durham School of the Arts up to 3A. Reidsville remains 2A but moves to a conference in the West. Bartlett-Yancey, Cummings, Graham and N.C. School of Science and Math unchanged.

Eastern Plains 2A: No changes. Beddingfield, Farmville Central, Nash Central, North Johnston, North Pitt and SouthWest Edgecombe remain 2A.

Carolina 1A: Princeton up to 2A. Hobbton, Lakewood, Neuse Charter, North Duplin, Rosewood and Union remain 1A.

North Central Athletic 1A: Franklin Academy up to 2A. East Wake Academy, Falls Lake Academy, Henderson Collegiate, Oxford Prep, Roxboro Community, Triangle Math and Science, Vance Charter and Voyager Academy remain 1A.

Central Tar Heel 1A: Raleigh Charter and Research Triangle Academy up to 2A. Cornerstone Charter remains 1A but moves to a conference in the West. Chatham Charter, Clover Garden, Eno River Academy, River Mill Academy, Southern Wake Academy and Woods Charter remain 1A.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle