The competitive balance debate continues to develop, as one Lexington County public charter school successfully challenged being moved up to a higher classification, while another one saw its challenge denied.

American Leadership Academy won its classification placement appeal to the South Carolina High School League Appellate Panel on Friday by a unanimous 7-0 vote. The school’s request to move from 3A was denied Wednesday by the league’s Executive Committee, but that ruling was overturned, placing it in 2A. 

The members of the Appellate Panel agreed with American Leadership’s argument that the school was judged by the Executive Committee for what it may become based on other schools; success, instead of where the program was now. 

There was an agreement in the room that by the next reclassification, 3A, and potentially 4A, could be a viable option for the school. But at this time, American Leadership lacked the numbers, resources and facilities to be a regular 3A school. 

After attempting and failing in an appeal to move to the 3A classification Tuesday, Gray Collegiate decided not to take its argument to the Appellate Panel and will instead focus on preparing for 4A competition. 

“After the meeting, our initial thoughts were to appeal this decision to the Appellate Panel; however, after having time to discuss next steps with my coaches and players, we have changed our mind,” Gray Principal Brian Newsome said in his letter to SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton. “We will not be appealing this decision any further and look forward to being wonderful members of the 4A classification.” 

With the appeals process concluded the final alignment plan is in place. There will be 54 5A schools, 41 4A, 32 3A, 46 2A and 50 A schools during the next alignment period from 2024-26. 

Earlier this week, the South Carolina High School League Executive Committee heard arguments from 22 schools, regarding their desires to be placed in a lower classification ahead of the new alignment period from 2024-26. 

Gray Collegiate and American Leadership Academy, both charter schools, were among those and argued they should be placed a classification lower than the new plan dictates. 

Gray, one of a handful of schools to jump multiple classifications thanks to the new multiplier rule, requested to move from 4A to 3A, citing safety concerns. American Leadership Academy, which has thus far only competed at the junior varsity level after opening last fall, asked to be placed in 2A instead of 3A, citing the school’s youth as its primary reason. 

Neither schools’ argument was enough to convince the committee to vote in their favor. Gray was struck down in a 12-3 vote, while American Leadership’s appeal was denied 10-5. 

The committee expressed doubt that Gray’s move to 4A was as big a safety concern as the school seemed to believe. 

“I look at your schedule and some of the teams that you've played, and you've played, voluntarily, schools that are larger than you, and you have been very successful,” Committee Member and Fairfield County Superintendent J.R. Green said. “I find it hard to see how it's a safety issue now if you're placed in a region with those same schools.”

Gray defeated 3A runner-up Camden 30-12 and 4A SCISA school Hammond 52-14 in football last season. On the basketball court, the school defeated 5A Chapin by 20 points twice and went head-to-head with some of the country’s best teams over the holidays. 

The school’s recent success and investments in athletics were also cited as reasons for denial. 

“You mentioned buses earlier,” Committee Member Andy Rodgers said to Newsome. “I think you guys have probably had the nicest travel bus of anybody in the entire state when you visit and go to other schools.”

Newsome stood by his case despite the skepticism, saying a full schedule against 4A schools would require the program to pull JV players every week to keep up. 

“I don't think you create safety by moving a freshman up,” Newsome said. “You may move him up for one week, knowing the rest of the season he'll go back to JV, but I can't go to a parent and say, ‘Ma'am, I want your kid, every single week, to go play against 100 kids and there's only 30 of us. He's going to do that for six straight weeks in a regional schedule.’ They're going to look at me and say you're absolutely crazy.”

The committee however, felt those concerns were not enough to approve Gray’s appeal. 

The committee assured the school this new 4A was not the old 4A, but more of a boosted 3A. With the restructuring and addition of more than 15 teams to 5A, many 3A schools moved up to 4A as well. 

American Leadership’s case was a bit more successful. The school, which welcomed its first students this school year, argued it would harm its athletic programs to be thrust into 3A competition. 

For almost an hour, American Leadership representatives and the committee discussed the trajectory of the school and its athletic program. 

American Leadership, which has a strict set of rules that every student must follow with a few exceptions, argued athletics is a secondary benefit of their school, and they were in no way seeking a competitive advantage. The school also claimed its low number of junior and senior athletes would put them at a disadvantage. 

Many members of the board were reluctant to agree with those statements after seeing some of the high-profile coaching hires the school made, including former Spring Valley football coach Robin Bacon and state championship-winning girls basketball coach Sandra Dickert. 

“I've seen you make some very good hires, coaches wise, some I would call elite coaches,” Committee Member David Byrd said. “Wouldn’t you think that you would probably get some juniors and seniors that want to come play for those coaches.”

Athletic Director Canady said the school made those hires because of his three decades of experience and relationship building in high school sports, not for competitive reasons.

“I've developed a lot of friendships,” Canady said. “If you look at the coaches that we have hired,  not only are they quality coaches, but they're quality people, and that's why we hired them. If we get any upperclassmen to transfer into us, they're going to follow the transfer rules as anybody else.”

The most convincing argument was the youth of the American Leadership program. This year, the school hasn’t had much success competing at the JV level. 

“The primary reason that I am considering your request is because you have been open for five months,” said Green, who was one of the five to vote in the school’s favor. “If you had been open for five years, probably not so much.”

That argument was not enough to sway a majority of the committee though. The members looked at charter schools that have had success around American Leadership plus the hires the school made has given them the same opportunity to succeed in a very timely manner. 

“If you hire good coaches, you're going to have kids that want to come play, and that's not to say that your enrollment process is there to target athletics,” Committee Member Ray Cooper said. “But in those scenarios, that tends to be what you attract, and so I think there's going to be growth in your situation that's going to be quick and fast, and you're going to quickly move to a very highly successful athletic program.”

American Leadership was able to sway five voters to its side but failed to reach the amount needed to have its request approved. However after presenting similar arguments to the Appellate Panel, the school’s request was accepted, 

The school will move forward with plans for 2A competition, where they feel they can build a sustainable program by the next reclassification.