Another reminder that change is needed

Paxton basketball coach Jeff Bradley didn’t try to hide his frustration after the Bobcats lost 81-53 to private school Arlington Country Day of Jacksonville in the Class 1A region finals.

“There’s no way anybody at (at the FHSAA) should be able to sleep at night knowing they’ve cheated these kids of a chance to go to the final four,” he said. “We’re a good enough basketball team to go to the final four in 2A, 3A. We’ve got a chance to go in any class but this one, and it ought to be a crime.”

Laurel Hill coach Kent Zessin might have been saying the same thing if the Hoboes had played ACD.

ACD won the last five Class 2A state championships, but with the reclassifications this year, moved down to 1A.

The move down a class didn’t stop MaxPreps from ranking the Indians the top team in the state in any classification.

With 11 players 6-foot-4 or taller, ACD would seem to have more the size college team than a high school team.

I saw Paxton play three or four times this year, and I know how good the Bobcats are. Paxton was clearly the best team I saw this year, and that includes Niceville, which advanced to Class 5A final four.

Paxton isn’t the only small public school in Okaloosa or Walton counting sent packing by a private school.

Baker was eliminated from the playoff by Pensacola Christian Academy, which, like ACD, seemed to have an uncommon amount of height for a small school.

Now I’m not implying PCA has magically stacked its roster with tall kids. If anything, I believe PCA is one of the few private schools that does its best to maintain a high standard of integrity.

The moral standards and rules that govern student conduct at PCA would frighten many would be athletes away that might want to attend school just to play basketball or, say, wrestle.

That’s not to say there aren’t private schools in Escambia County that don’t try to tilt the playing field to their favor. But whether you call it recruiting or academic outreach, it’s a situation that exists across the state.

For almost a year now there have been talks and proposals about leveling the playing field between the small public school in a rural area such as Baker, Laurel Hill or Paxton and the small private schools.

Maybe the solution could be something as simple as requiring a private school that wins three consecutive state championships to move up a classification. The one problem there is that another private school will be most likely benefit the most from such a rule.

One thing the FSHAA has looked at deals with the population within a school’s zone or zip code.

I would have to believe there are a few hundred thousand more people in ACD’s zip code than there are in Paxton and Laurel Hill combined.

The fact is the situation isn’t as sterile and academic as the number of students on campus, or even the population within a community, but the population within a community is a starting point.

Whatever the solution, the time for talking is quickly drawing to a close. It’s time to get something done. And it needs to be done no later than the next reclassification in the fall of 2011.

Sadly, even 2011 is too late for small public schools that have been ignored for years.