The Montana High School Association will vote next month on proposed changes to the enrollment boundaries in all four classes, a decision that could lead to the reclassification of a handful of local schools.

Schools in Montana are separated into four classes — AA, A, B and C — in most sports, based on enrollment. If the recommendations from the Executive Board of the MHSA are accepted, as expected, at the November Executive Board meeting, the enrollment bar will be lowered in the top three classes for the first time since 2007.

Currently, schools are classified as follows, based on the average enrollment from the previous two school years:

• Class AA: 826 students and above
• Class A: 340-825
• Class B: 120-339
• Class C: 1-119

The proposal, based on declining statewide enrollments and the findings of an ad-hoc committee of the Executive Board, would change those numbers to the following, again based on the average enrollment at a school in the prior two academic years:

• Class AA: 779 students and above
• Class A: 307-778
• Class B: 108-306
• Class C: 1-107

Both Peter Fusaro, Flathead High School’s principal and president of the Executive Board of the MHSA, and MHSA Executive Director Mark Beckman cited a 17 percent drop in statewide high school enrollment since 1995 as the largest catalyst for change.

“Fair competition, that’s one thing you’re always looking out for,” Fusaro said. “Some of the bigger schools (in each class) just tend to dominate everything, so how do you create a little more of that equity?”

Locally, the new numbers would likely see the addition of two teams to the Northwest A conference, with current Class B programs Libby and Ronan both joining the league. Libby is right now the largest Class B school with 354 students, based on the most recent data published by the MHSA, and would be well within the new guidelines for Class A. Ronan (340) and Anaconda (320) would likely join the Loggers in moving up a class.

Libby only recently (2015-16) dropped to Class B because of decreases in enrollment, a move that was not met enthusiastically by some coaches at the school. Nik Rewerts, the activities director for the Loggers, discussed the potential move back to Class A with his staff in recent weeks.

“Our coaches didn’t really want to go to Class B in the first place,” Rewerts said. “We liked Northwest A (conference). We’re excited to go back up. We have some pretty good relationships so we’re excited to go back up.”

There are mechanisms with the MHSA rule book for schools to remain in their current class for up to two seasons if they fall within 10 percent of the next-highest class threshold, and even without meeting that criteria schools can still petition the Executive Board if they feel they have “sufficient cause for reclassification,” per MHSA rule X.3.1.

Barring a petition from Libby or Ronan or other reshuffling among the Class A conferences, the Northwest A will likely consist of seven teams in 2017-18: Browning, Columbia Falls, Frenchtown, Libby, Polson, Ronan and Whitefish. Browning, currently in Central A, was scheduled to move to the Northwest before the proposed changes in the enrollment thresholds were announced.

The other major change felt in Northwest Montana could come in Troy, where administrators have already presented the school board with a proposal suggesting the Trojans move to 8-man football starting next year. Troy’s football team is currently 0-8 and the school’s enrollment of 123 would allow it to take advantage of separate rule change, one that is also up for a vote next month.

The new rule would allow Class B schools with an average of 130 or fewer students to play 8-man football, a level currently reserved for Class C schools.

That change was precipitated by a survey sent out last year to 38 schools at the lower end of Class B and the high end of Class C, or those schools that would be affected by the rule change. According to Beckman, all 38 schools responded and 33 were in favor of the new guidelines.

“There has been a lot of talk about smaller (Class) B schools fielding competitive 11-player teams,” Beckman said. “In the survey, there was overwhelming support … the overwhelming majority were in support of this change.”

As the rules are currently written, schools must compete in Class C in all sports to participate in either eight or six-man football. The rule change allows a school like Troy to remain at Class B in all other sports but field an 8-man football team.

“I’d like more kids to come out but our numbers in the school are going to be dropping so I understand our football team is probably going to have less and less kids, and then it’s just going to be a struggle in future years,” Troy football coach Kody Hoffman said.

Hoffman, a Troy graduate and former football player, added that the change to 8-man football would be “strange.”

“If it’s for the best for the kids I’m going to have to roll with it,” he said. “I personally think 11-man is the only way to play football but there are a lot of successful kids that have played 8-man.”

The loss of Libby and Troy would have a ripple effect in District 7B, leaving the football conference with only three remaining teams — Bigfork, Eureka and Thompson Falls. There would likely be a shakeup of other conferences or the movement of a Class C school, potentially Plains (enrollment 128), a former 7B school, to reshape the league.

Member schools of the MHSA have received all proposed rule changes and are being asked provide input to the Executive Board before the November meeting.