With the 2024 Oklahoma high school football season just a few months away, teams across the state will be scrambling to re-work their schedules. The reason for the scramble is Oklahoma County District Court Judge Richard Ogden has thrown-out recent amendments to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association’s Rule 14, which was adopted in 2011 in an attempt to create competitive balance in athletics across the state.
The recent amendments affected private schools that are not classified the same way that public schools are grouped. Public schools are put in classifications based on the size of student bodies. Private schools are group on recent post-season success.
In December, Oklahoma Christian School, Bishop McGuinness, Mount St. Mary, Heritage Hall and Crossings Christian School filed a lawsuit claiming the Rule 14 is unconstitutional, putting private schools at a competitive disadvantage.
Now it’s back to the drawing board to rework the new districts that were released last August.