Fairview, Plentywood Might Move To Class B Ranks

District 2B sports will likely see the additions of Fairview and Plentywood starting in the 2023-2024 school year.

The Montana High School Association’s executive board approved a new criteria for reclassifying schools during its November meeting. Under the new criteria, Class C schools will have enrollments of 1-100 instead of 1-107. There also will no longer be a 10 percent range for schools to petition to remain below their current classification.

Mark Beckman, MHSA executive director, said the MHSA is waiting for enrollment figures in April to determine the reclassifications. The changes won’t go into effect until the 2023-2024 school year. Fairview and Plentywood will remain in eight-man football because the enrollment cut-off numbers are higher for that sport.

“It gives them some time to realign,” Beckman explained.

Enrollment figures will be based on a two-year count.

According to spring 2021 figures, Fairview had an enrollment of 114 and Plentywood had an enrollment of 104. The next highest enrollments for current Eastern C schools are Scobey at 88 and Culbertson at 81 students.

Chinook is another school that might be moved from Class C to Class B. Chinook had a high school enrollment of 106 high school students last spring.

Any school that exceeds the enrollment range may petition to play at the level below their current placement. The executive board will apply the following criteria: current enrollment and future enrollment projections; roster sizes for each sponsored sport; success factor in the current placement for each sponsored sport; and success factor in the current placement for each sponsored sport during the last five years.