MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District voters will be asked to approve or reject a $135.3 million construction bond in February, which includes money for a new, second high school. One of the frequently asked questions is how a second high school would impact extracurricular activities.

School classification for extracurricular activities is something of a numbers game, and something of an everybody-else’s-numbers-game. There are a lot of moving parts.

“When there’s a change in a school district it has a ripple effect around the state,” said Loren Sandhop, athletic director at Moses Lake High School.

In a way it all sounds pretty simple – classification for high school activities depends on the number of kids in school. But it’s not the kids in high school now, it’s the kids who are projected to be in school when the new school opens.

Right now MLHS is a 4A school, the classification for the biggest schools. Currently schools with more than 1,343 students are 4A schools. Sandhop did an analysis for the Moses Lake School Board, and determined that, if the school population stayed exactly as it's projected now – which it won't, he said – both of the high schools in Moses Lake probably would be classified at the high end of 2A or the low end of 3A. Of course, if the school population changes the classifications could change.

The Moses Lake schools probably would be in the CWAC if they were 2A. Currently the CWAC includes Othello, Ephrata and Quincy.

And if the Moses Lake schools were 3A schools, they would be in which league? That’s a good question.

Extracurricular activities are governed by the Washington Interschool Athletic Association (WIAA). Schools are sorted into six different classes, and the goal is to ensure each class has about the same percentage of schools.

“You’re playing teams that are more like you than unlike you,” Sandhop said. But school population doesn’t stay static – some towns get bigger, some get smaller. The goal is to have about 17 percent of the state’s schools in the 4A classification, Sandhop said. But the actual number of kids it takes to qualify as a 4A school (or a 3A or a 2A, and so on) changes as the state changes.

If the two Moses Lake schools classified as 3A that’s a problem in central Washington. There isn’t a 3A league. There was a time, Sandhop said, when the Big 9 had both 4A and 3A teams. But it would be up to Big 9 administrators at the time to decide whether or not to allow it again.

Schools can choose to “opt up,” Sandhop said, citing the example of Gonzaga Prep in Spokane. Strictly by the numbers Gonzaga Prep a 2A school, but it opted up and plays in the 3A/4A Greater Spokane League. Moses Lake schools would have the same opt-up option, but the decision ultimately would be up to the school board.

State rules allow some schools to combine their teams for competition, but it’s prohibited for 3A and 4A schools, Sandhop said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].