OSAA plans to defend district moves.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

The Oregon School Activities Association will challenge last week's ruling by a hearings officer that it violated state law during the reclassification process that split up the Midwestern League by moving South Eugene and Sheldon to the new 6A class.

Hearings officer William Young released a proposed order Friday that stated the OSAA violated state law when it listed nine criteria for reclassification in no particular order of priority and then later put a greater emphasis on three of those criteria. Young also said the OSAA violated state law by expanding its number of classifications without the approval of the Oregon State Board of Education.

The OSAA has until Wednesday to file its response to the proposed order.

The OSAA will send its response to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo, and she is expected to make a ruling Thursday, said Randy Harnisch, a policy assistant to Castillo.

"We've sent (the proposed order) to the parties and given them until 5 p.m. Wednesday to respond," Harnisch said. "At that point we'll look at the responses and make the determination with our legal counsel whether or not to issue the proposed order as a final order."

Harnisch said the fate of a hearing scheduled for next week will not be known until after Castillo makes her decision.

If Castillo makes the proposed order final, then the OSAA would have to "look and see where it was in the process and what it needs to do to correct any of the deficiencies the hearings officer identified," Harnisch said.

OSAA executive director Tom Welter said he was "surprised and disappointed" when he heard about Young's decision Saturday.

"We strongly disagree with his proposed ruling, and through our legal counsel we will file objections to the proposed order by Wednesday," Welter said. "We don't feel like we have violated any state law because of the process and the information that we provided to the State Board of Education and the appearances we made before the State Board."

The OSAA executive board voted last year to expand the current four-classification system to six classes beginning next season.

The change would put Sheldon and South Eugene into the 6A class with Roseburg, Grants Pass, North Medford and South Medford while Thurston, Springfield, Willamette, North Eugene, Churchill and Marshfield would remain together in a 5A league.

The superintendents of the Eugene, Springfield and Bethel school districts signed a declaration asking to keep all of their schools in the same league at the 6A level, but that was not approved by the OSAA board.

The Eugene, Salem-Keizer and Medford school districts appealed the OSAA reclassification decision, and the hearings officer gathered information from those districts and the OSAA during the past month. A hearing was scheduled for March 6, but Young ruled on a pre-hearing motion from the Eugene School District to find that the OSAA process did not comply with state statutes.

The proposed order said the OSAA violated state law when it listed nine criteria and then put a greater priority on three - improving competitive balance within a league, minimizing travel/expense for schools and maintaining current league alignment.

"We considered all nine criteria in terms of making placements, and those nine were approved by the State Board," Welter said. "We used all nine and we prioritized three and we don't think that is a violation of state laws."

In addition, the hearings officer agreed with an appeal from the Salem-Keizer School District that the OSAA violated state law by increasing the number of classifications without the approval of the State Board.