(Removal – Photo Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reinstated previous high school football classifications after ordinances caused the playoffs to be postponed, while scheduling responses in similar cases involving Class A high school volleyball. state issued an order late Tuesday in two combined cases dealing with the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) filed in Wood and Mason counties. Judge William Wooten was replaced by Fayette County Circuit Judge Thomas Ewing after Wooten recused himself from hearing the cases last week. According to the order, the Supreme Court granted the WVSSAC’s request for a writ of prohibition, stating that Wood County Circuit Judge JD Beane exceeded his authority when he struck down a high school football reclassification system instituted at the beginning of the school year by the WVSSAC , restoring the previous classification system.
“It is undisputed that the WVSSAC had the authority to reclassify under the state rules of West Virginia Code å127-3-10,” the order provides. “Upon our review, we find that the circuit court’s entry of injunctive relief was not based on WVSSAC’s lack of authority to reclassify, but rather on the timing and manner of that reclassification. We have repeatedly argued that the manner in which the WVSSAC applies its rules is not subject to judicial review.”
Attorneys for WVSSAC filed a restraining order last Thursday with the Supreme Court, as well as a motion for expedited relief that the court granted, setting Monday noon deadlines for attorneys for the Wood and Mason county school systems to respond. Attorneys for Cabell County Schools and attorneys representing a student at Lincoln High School in Harrison County also filed briefs for and against the motion, and attorneys for the Wood County Board of Education were granted an injunction motion Nov. 9 de Beane who eliminated the high school football reclassification system. Wood County Schools believes the reclassification change and the related scoring system used to determine playoff slots and seeding negatively affected Williamstown High School, Parkersburg High School and Parkersburg South High School. In August, the WVSSAC Board of Control decided to move several schools down the classification, following a decision made by the WVSSAC nearly a year ago to eliminate the three-class system to a four-class system, from A for the smallest schools. to AAAA for the largest schools. Wood County schools attorneys say the three Wood County schools sought relief by appealing the new classifications through the existing WVSSAC process to no avail, and it was impossible to make changes to their schedules because of contracts already in place. Attorney Patrick McFarland, who represents Wood County, said the WVSSAC did not follow its own rules for reviewing its new classification system and did not screen member schools for possible ramifications. In a separate case filed by Point Pleasant High School and a member of the Point Pleasant football team, Fifth Circuit Judge Anita Ashley issued an order Nov. 11 ordering play-in games for high school football teams that would have left out playoffs based on the classification change caused by the Wood County order. They argue that the motion should be granted and Wood County’s ordinance should be vacated. The Supreme Court has postponed all high school football playoff games indefinitely pending the outcome of those cases. Saturday’s games between Capitol High School vs. Hampshire High School and Point Pleasant vs. St. Albans High School, mandated by Ashely’s order, were also canceled. Again, the Supreme Court ruled that Ashley exceeded his authority. “With respect to the Mason County Circuit Court’s November 11, 2024 order, we note that the order was issued in direct response to the improper grant of injunctive relief by the Wood County Circuit Court,” according to the order. “Be that as it may, the Mason County Circuit Court also lacked authority to interfere in the internal affairs of the WVSSAC and overreached, as a matter of law, by ordering the WVSSAC to schedule scrimmages as set forth in its order .” In a similar dispute involving Class A volleyball, the Supreme Court granted motions for expedited relief filed by the WVSSAC on Monday as it considers the WVSSAC’s injunction against cases filed on the Class A volleyball classifications. While the Class AA, AAA and AAAA playoffs continued, the WVSSAC postponed the Class A playoffs pending a Supreme Court decision after conflicting court rulings of the circuit in the cases brought Tyler Consolidated High School and East Hardy High School regarding reclassifications. The Tyler County Board of Education filed an ordinance Oct. 1 to move it from Class A to Class AA. That ban was granted on October 30. In response, East Hardy High School filed its own injunction asking the circuit court to bar Tyler Consolidated High School from participating in the Class A volleyball tournament, which was originally scheduled to begin Nov. 12. The WVSSAC sought a quick fix in the Supreme Court and filed writs of injunction Monday against both Tyler County and Hardy County, asking the high court to lift the preliminary injunction preventing the Class A volleyball tournament or provide guidance on the injunction lower court to follow.
“In this matter, the Circuit Court of Tyler County … exceeded its jurisdiction and substituted its own decisions for those of the WVSSAC and its Board of Trustees and the Board of Examiners of the West Virginia Department of Education with regarding the classification of schools, applying its own judgment. and acting in a manner manifestly erroneous in granting the defendant relief in the form of an order classifying Tyler Consolidated as Class A on October 30, 2024, when the Board of Control, the Board of Directors and the Board of Review classified it as Class AA,” wrote Stephen Gandee, attorney for WVSSAC.