What Upstate lawsuit against High School League means for SC realignment, schedules

A lawsuit filed this week against the South Carolina High School League is not expected to have a statewide effect on realignment and scheduling for the upcoming high school sports season.

Five school districts — Spartanburg Districts 1, 2 and 4, Laurens District 56 and Greenwood District 50 — filed suit against the SCHSL and Union County Schools. Kenneth W. Nettles, an attorney with Lyles, Darr & Clark in Spartanburg, filed the suit in Richland County.

Coaches and athletic directors surveyed by The State expressed concerns that the lawsuit and any possible outcome could put a freeze on an already agreed-upon realignment plan and revert back to the 2016-2018 model.

The suit, however, only aims to move Union County High School back to Class 4A. Under realignment for 2018-2020, Union County was to be in Region II in Class 4A but was then moved to 3A after winning an appeal. The school appealed that placement and was denied 14-0 by the executive committee.

In the realignment plan, Union County is in Class 3A and in the same region with Midlands teams Mid-Carolina and Newberry along with Woodruff, Clinton and Emerald. Union would be the largest school in the region by more than 300 students.

When Union County on Aug. 27 went before the appellate panel, which is made up of athletic directors and principals from around the state, it won 4-3. On Jan. 31, the appellate panel voted 7-0 against revisiting the decision. Because of that, the opposing districts felt filing a lawsuit is only way left to get it overturned.

Union County wanted to move back because of travel concerns in region.

“This is not about vindictiveness. This is about fairness and due process for our students. There is a fundamental disagreement between our schools and the League as to what is fair and what due process should be afforded to schools directly affected by the League’s reclassification actions,” a press release from the schools in the lawsuit said.

The SCHSL has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.

Realignment happens every two years and is based on 135-day enrollment numbers and done to in part to level playing fields in each classification.

This story was originally published May 24, 2018 at 11:49 AM with the headline "What Upstate lawsuit against High School League means for SC realignment, schedules."