The Illinois High School Association Board of Directors made a change to its enrollment classification cycle during its monthly meeting Dec. 9.

Starting in the 2025-26 school year, the IHSA will begin using a one-year classification cycle, changing from its current two-year cycle. 

The Illinois State Board of Education will provide the IHSA with each school’s enrollment from data collected in September 2024 to set classifications for next school year.

The IHSA previously determined which class a team would play in each sport by the average of the school’s enrollment during a two-year period. That enrollment number was then used for two years.

“The IHSA Board of Directors has heard the concerns from the public,” the IHSA said in a statement, “and more importantly, from our member schools in the days since the completion of the IHSA’s fall state tournaments.

“Throughout 2025, the board plans to delve deeper into all aspects that impact IHSA classifications. It is our hope that we can achieve consensus to both adjust board policy prior to the 2025-26 school year, and bring forth a bylaw proposal or proposals to the membership during the 2025-26 legislative process.”

This IHSA change comes following backlash over multiple lopsided results from the football state championship games.

Seven of the eight title-winning football teams were private schools. Those seven state champs outscored opponents 312-103.

In Class 1A, Belleville’s Althoff Catholic High School won its title game 57-14 and outscored opponents 272-61 over five playoff games.

Althoff (14-0) defeated Maple Park Kaneland, a Class 6A school, just prior to its Class 1A playoff run.

Private and non-boundaried schools in Illinois are subject to a 1.65 multiplier and implementation of a “success factor” which takes a program’s postseason finishes into account. 

Schools that do not meet a certain standard of success can accept a multiplier waiver to decrease classification enrollment.

All four teams that won state championships on the first day of title game competition – Althoff in Class 1A, Chicago Christian in Class 2A, Montini in Class 3A and DePaul Prep in Class 4A – competed this season with multiplier waivers.

Multiplier waivers are granted to teams that don’t win at least three playoff games over the two seasons that enrollment is currently factored by. This season’s enrollment numbers and classifications were calculated from results of the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The classes 1A-4A football champions all slipped underneath that threshold during those seasons, allowing them to fall down multiple classifications.

Because of the IHSA’s enrollment multiplier and success factor, Althoff should be at least a Class 3A school next fall. That would be the fifth different classification for the Crusaders in the last 20 years.