By virtue of an 11th hour appeal, Lehman High will be going down the 5A ranks.
On Tuesday, Hays CISD Superintendent Eric Wright informed district leaders Lehman High athletics will drop a level of classification based on a successful appeal filed last week. As a result, Lehman sports will compete in 5A in all sports, 5A, Division I in football.
Earlier this month, UIL Conference cutoff figures showed Lobo athletics would compete in 6A for the third straight realignment phase. Those cutoff figures are used by the UIL, the governing body of athletics in Texas, for its biennial realignment in February.
Based on the cutoff numbers, Lehman High, which turned in a preliminary, or snapshot, enrollment of 2,225 students, was poised to remain in Conference 6A for the third straight realignment phase.
The cutoff between Conference 5A and 6A schools is 2,219 students.
Lehman High had been the fourth smallest 6A school in the state based on student population prior to Tuesday. However, based on the successful appeal, Lehman is now the largest 5A school in Texas.
Leading up to the revealing of conference cutoff figures, Lehman High was on the bubble on either staying in 6A, the highest classification of athletics in the state, or dropping down to 5A. Lehman High, which opened as a 4A (now 5A) school, moved up to 6A in the 2015 season.
Meanwhile, Johnson High, out of Buda, which will enter its first full season at the varsity level in 2020, will open in Conference 5A for all sports except football, where the Jaguars will play in the Class 5A, Division I ranks.
Hays CISD officials said they will allow Johnson High to compete at the 5A level and will not opt to move them up to 6A with the other district schools. It will mark the first time in Hays CISD history the district will have high schools competing in different UIL conferences.
Johnson High’s snapshot enrollment turned into the UIL was 2,176 students, which was double the current student population of 1,088 students. Johnson High, which opened in August, currently houses freshman and sophomores.
While change is forthcoming for Lehman and Johnson, life for Hays, Dripping Springs, San Marcos and Wimberley athletics will remain the status quo.
Hays High will stay in the 6A ranks based on its snapshot enrollment of 2,435 students, which is well above the 5A/6A cutoff. Also staying in the same conference is Dripping Springs, which will remain in 5A for all sports and 5A, Division I in football. Dripping Springs turned in a snapshot enrollment of 2,144 students, which was a substantial increase from the 1,800-plus during the last realignment in 2018. However, the Tigers are expected to see an entirely new slate of district foes in football as nearly every school they compete with in 12-5A, Division 1 is moving down to Division 2.
Despite speculation of possibly moving up, Wimberley High will remain in the 4A, Division II, or small school, ranks in football for the next two years. The Texans turned in a snapshot enrollment of 795 students, which was under the 864 student cutoff for Division I.
San Marcos’ stay in 6A will continue for another two years due to its snapshot enrollment of 2,309.
UIL Conference cutoffs
for the 2020-22 school years
6A – 2,220 students and above
5A – 1,210 to 2,219 students
4A – 515 to 1,209 students
3A – 230 to 514 students
2A – 105 to 229 students
1A (six man) – 104.9 and below
How did area schools fare?
Hays and Caldwell Counties
Hays – 2,435 (6A)
Lehman – 2,225 (6A)
Dripping Springs – 2,144 (5A; 5A D1 football)
Wimberley – 795 (4A; 4A D2 football)
San Marcos – 2,309 (6A)
Johnson – 2, 176 (5A; 5A D1 football)
Luling – 390 (3A)
Austin area schools
Bowie – 2,848 (6A)
Lake Travis – 3,401 (6A)
Westlake – 2,833 (6A)
Austin High – 2,539 (6A)
Akins – 2,770 (6A)
Austin LASA – 1,284.5 (5A)
Anderson – 2,211 (5A; 5A D1 football)
Crockett – 1,543 (5A; 5A D2 football)
Austin Johnson – 855 (5A; 5A D2 football)
McCallum – 1,773.5 (5A, 5A D2 football)
Austin Navarro – 1,646 (5A, 5A D2 football)
Austin Northeast – 1,141.5 (5A; 5A D2 football)
Austin Travis – 1,245 (5A; 5A D2 football)
Eastside Memorial – 755 (4A; 4A D2 football)
Comal County
Smithson Valley – 2,980 (6A)
New Braunfels High – 2,634.5 (6A)
New Braunfels Canyon – 2,027 (5A; 5A D1 football)
Canyon Lake – 1,136 (4A; 4A D1 football)
Davenport – 1,034 (4A; no football)
