Board of Directors Meeting Release: April 3, 2025
Posted: Thursday, April 3, 2025 - 3:45 PM
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. --- Competitive Section Placements for teams competing in the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years were approved by the Minnesota State High School League’s Board of Directors at its meeting today at the League Office.
Before approving, the Board of Directors received information from League Staff on policies and processes used to place teams in competitive sections for the next two school years. The League’s Activities Directors Advisory Committee serves as the primary group responsible for reviewing and recommending the placements prior to approval by the Board of Directors.
The Competitive Section Placement process includes:
- Determining League enrollments by using enrollment and free/reduced lunch information provided by the Minnesota Department of Education.
- Creating classification cut-offs for each activity to determine the class of competition for each team.
- Collecting and applying opt-up requests by teams from Member Schools seeking to move up from their assigned class.
- Consideration and selectively granting appeals from Member Schools for teams to move down one class from their assigned class based on numerous factors.
- Placement of teams into sections based on board policy that includes geographic proximity and balancing the number of teams in each section.
“This is an incredibly thorough process that emphasizes fair and equitable placement of Member Schools in their respective competitive sections for the next two years,” said Board President Don Peschel, superintendent of Sauk Centre Public Schools. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, we thank all that have been involved in this significant process that includes map review and policy implementation.”
Maps that illustrate the placement of Member Schools into Competitive Sections will be available on Friday, April 4 on the League’s website: www.mshsl.org
With the approval of the Competitive Section Placements, the District Football Placement and Scheduling processes will continue. The approval of the Football Districts will be on the June 2025 Board of Directors agenda.
9th Grade Governance
In the continuing work as the League prepares for 9th Grade Governance implementation for the 2025-2026 school year, the Board of Directors approved the advancement of the 200, 300 and 400 Series of Bylaws to the Representative Assembly on May 13. Region Committees will have the opportunity to provide feedback prior to the Representative Assembly.
“Adding all 9th grade participants into the League is one of the most impactful decisions that our Member Schools have made in a number of years,” said League Executive Director Erich Martens. “The consistency of our programs and the governance and insurance for all ninth-grade activities is incredibly important.”
In other Action Items:
- The Board of Directors approved State Tournament Dates for the 2025-2026 school year. In some cases, the State Tournament Dates might be impacted by professional or collegiate teams. In those instances, the schedule will read, “TBD.”
- The Board of Directors approved the Meeting Dates for the 2025-2026 school year, which includes board meetings, workshops, Area Meetings and the Representative Assembly.
- The Board of Directors, through the Executive Committee, approved Chanhassen High School as the host site for the Adapted Softball State Tournament on May 16-17.
- The Board of Directors, through the Executive Committee, approved the renaming of the committee focused on improving access for schools and individuals, fostering meaningful engagement across all communities, and expanding educational opportunities. The committee will now be known as the Access, Engagement and Opportunity Committee..
- The Board, through its Executive Committee, approved a timeline for new member school applications that aligns with the start of each season.
- Additionally, the Board, through its Executive Committee, approved State Tournament Ticket prices for the State Tournaments in spring 2025.
