A statewide petition could split Ohio's high school championships into separate public and private brackets. Gahanna Lincoln, New Albany and all 812 Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) member schools would face the change if the measure reaches the May 2027 ballot and passes.

The Suburban League, a 16-school public conference in Northeast Ohio, is collecting signatures from high school principals across the state. Organizers need 75 signatures, with at least five from each of the OHSAA's six districts, by December to place the referendum on the ballot, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. A simple majority of member-school principals would need to approve it.

If the measure passes, separate tournaments could begin as early as the 2028-29 school year.

Nordonia athletic director Rob Eckenrode, now in his 21st year in that role, told the Beacon Journal that a committee of athletic directors, principals and superintendents prepared the referendum item after meeting with the OHSAA. Fifteen of the Suburban League's 16 member districts are involved in the petition. Wadsworth asked not to be included.

The OHSAA has 691 public and 121 private member high schools. Private schools represent about 15% of the membership. Gahanna Lincoln competes as an AAA program with a male enrollment of 1,002 and female enrollment of 929, according to OHSAA enrollment data. Columbus Academy, a private school located in Gahanna, is classified AA with far smaller numbers: 164 male and 136 female students.

Not everyone wants a split

Not all public-school voices support the idea. Avon football coach Mike Elder, whose team beat Anderson for the 2024 state title after losing to Hoban five times in seven years, told Cleveland.com: "I don't want the playoffs to be separated. I want to beat the best …"

OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute urged a broader view at a Southwest District meeting in Cincinnati on Sept. 16. He said administrators should look beyond state-tournament results to the regional level when evaluating competitive balance.

Columnist Andy Baskin, who coaches at Gilmour Academy, argued in a Sept. 24 column that the push could backfire. If private schools left the OHSAA entirely, he wrote, they could recruit without restriction, play more than 30 games a season and lift travel limits.

Public schools won six of seven state football titles and swept all 10 track championships in the most recent season, Baskin wrote.

Central Ohio feels it less

Baskin also pointed out that the debate is driven largely by Northeast Ohio. "Central Ohio has some non-public impact. Look at Bishop Watterson," he wrote. "But it's not the same as the northern part of the state."

Bishop Watterson, the Columbus-area Catholic school most often cited in the discussion, is classified AA with enrollments of 331 male and 405 female students. That puts it well below Gahanna Lincoln's AAA enrollment.

The OHSAA already uses a Competitive Balance plan, approved by member schools in May 2014 and implemented in 2017-18. Under that system, a non-public school student who has not been continuously enrolled in the same system since seventh grade counts as three students in football and seven in other applicable sports when determining tournament division placement.

This is not the first time the question has come up. Similar petitions circulated in 1978 and 1993. Member schools voted both down.

The December signature deadline is the next milestone. If organizers clear that hurdle, every OHSAA member-school principal will vote in May 2027.