UIL Expansion Under Consideration; Expansion Would Cause Travel Problems For El Paso Teams

A survey to expand UIL to include a Class 6A will be presented this fall. If it is expanded, teams in El Paso that are in the new class could have to travel hundreds of miles for games for district games, UIL Director Charles Breithaupt told the Austin American-Statesman.

The possible change will be presented to state superintendents in a survey in September, and the survey results will be taken to the UIL Legislative Council in October. If the council agrees to the plan, the state could have six classes for the next realignment shift in 2012.

According to the newspaper report, the addition of a Class 6A would narrow the enrollment gap for all classifications ? particularly in 5A.

Creating a Class 6A would allow four teams from every district in each UIL classification to reach the playoffs, Breithaupt said. Right now, only the 5A and 4A classifications have four teams advance from each district.

Detractors of the proposal said it could cause travel nightmares for some teams. As an example, he said El Paso schools elevated to 6A might have to travel 250 miles to Odessa for district games.