Retreating into the locker room for the final time this fall, the Labette County Grizzlies football players’ demeanor was oddly calm after their loss to Bishop Miege in the state football semifinals.
There wasn’t the portrait of an athlete sitting somberly in his locker, staring at the floor, unwilling to remove his pads. There were no tears, no yelling.
Instead, it was an acceptance that they had gone as far as the Kansas Legislature realistically allowed them to go.
Grizzlies players, playing for a small, rural community, mocked the riches that their private school powerhouse counterparts boasted — a charter bus, a television on the sideline and the fancy cars in the parking lot.
“They’re not like us,” one player said.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association agrees. Private schools like Bishop Miege aren’t the peers of public schools like Labette County. The ability to charge tuition and turn poor, needy kids away from their doors creates imbalance on fields and courts.
That’s why KSHSAA approved a multiplier that would be applied to private schools that rack up state titles in 2022, mirroring measures over three-fourths of the country have in place.
In short, schools like Bishop Miege would be bumped up a classification.
The multiplier passed a statewide vote of every school, providing KSHSAA the mandate needed to make a change.
Labette County wasn’t the only SEK League champion this fall to get Mieged.
Chanute’s volleyball team was also taken down by the private power in the sub-state tournament.
Chanute had won four straight SEK League titles. Labette County had stitched together the best football season in the school’s history. They both ran into a school that simply wasn’t their peer.
After Chanute’s loss, its head coach, Jory Murry, railed against what she sees as a bias against rural schools.
A state statute has prevented KSHSAA from implementing the multiplier.
K.S.A 72-114 states that KSHSAA must “establish a system for the classification of member high schools according to student attendance.”
KSHSAA’s legal counsel advised the association that implementing the multiplier would violate the statute. There are multiple school districts that disagree with that interpretation.
Since the multiplier’s passage in 2022, KSHSAA has lobbied the Kansas Legislature to amend the statute.
It’s never escaped committee, despite the mandate from the public.
Private schools disproportionately win championships in Kansas — while representing less than 10% of all schools, they win anywhere from a quarter to a third of titles in a given year. Classes 4A and 5A are the most heavily impacted.
Kansas is one of the few remaining states in the republic to leave the issue unaddressed. The state’s elected representatives have a mandate in place. Lawmakers lack enthusiasm to enact the will of the people.
When Governor Laura Kelly was asked about the issue during a town hall in Pittsburg in early November, she admitted the issue isn’t on her radar.
“We’ve got (KSHSAA) to deal with that kind of stuff,” Kelly said. “I don’t think about it very often, quite honestly.”
A Republican-controlled legislature and Democratic governor found consensus — they don’t care about mandates from the people.
It’s shameful that both sides of the aisle neglect the wills of their constituents, an increasingly common theme in governance.
Access to affordable healthcare, affordable housing, fully- funded schools — these are issues almost universally backed by Kansans yet lack real progress from those voted into office.
We the people are responsible for the ongoing imbalance. We’ve elected representatives that don’t care what we believe. They don’t care that our schools voted overwhelmingly in favor of the multiplier — 216 voted for the multiplier while 57, including 26 private schools, voted against.
Pervasive, ongoing inequality breeds vigilantism.
Last winter, Fort Scott’s girls basketball team intentionally lost a game to Independence to avoid Bishop Miege in the postseason.
Coaches from around the SEK League had the same reaction — it was bound to happen at some point.
Nobody wants vigilantes infringing on the integrity of sports, one of our country’s havens of meritocracy.
But the Kansas Legislature has left few other options. They’ve built a house of dynamite and we’re getting closer to pressing the button.
How long until a school forfeits a playoff game against an overpowered private school?
There’s a growing belief among coaches, athletic directors and administrators that KSHSAA should simply implement the multiplier. A lawsuit from a private school would shortly follow and a judge would rule on whether or not the multiplier violates state law.
Athletes in Kansas are starting to not believe they’re capable of overcoming the system their elected representatives are complicit in leaving in place.
Anguish and frustration is evolving into apathy. It’s violating the integrity and level playing fields athletics are supposed to provide.
Right now, our legislature doesn’t care.
Elect candidates that will actually represent their constituents.
