Mike Ridaught
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) on Monday announced new football classifications for the 2021-22 school year.
Due to shifting enrollment numbers, some schools moved up or down based on new enrollment numbers. For example, Bradford (Starke) will move all the way down from Class 4A to Class 1A in the fall.
On March 8, the FHSAA Board of Directors voted on just a one-year cycle due to enrollment volatility related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically classification decisions are effective for two years.
Classes 5A-8A have a required district schedule for the regular season. Classes 1A-4A are divided up into regions and are not assigned to a district.
Here are the classifications, based on enrollment numbers, for schools (in bold) in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area. The thresholds apply to October 2020 student enrollment, including non-traditional students from the 2019-2020 school year.
8A: 2,356+
7A: 2,355 – 1,924
6A: 1,923 – 1,582
5A: 1,581 – 1,137
4A: 1,136 – 740
3A: 739 – 361
2A: 360 & below
1A: 600 & below and rural designation
* CLASS 7A
– Region 1, District 2
Buchholz (Gainesville)
Chiles (Tallahassee)
Forest (Ocala)
Leon (Tallahassee)
* CLASS 6A
– Region 1, District 3
Columbia (Lake City)
Englewood (Jacksonville)
Lee (Jacksonville)
Orange Park – formerly in Class 5A
Westside (Jacksonville) – moves up from Class 5A
– Region 1, District 4
Gainesville
Matanzas (Palm Coast)
Middleburg
Ridgeview (Orange Park) – formerly in Class 5A
St. Augustine
* CLASS 5A
– Region 1, District 2
Baker County (Glen St. Mary)
Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville)
Ed White (Jacksonville)
Paxon (Jacksonville)
Suwannee (Live Oak)
– Region 1, District 4
Clay (Green Cove Springs)
Eastside (Gainesville)
Menendez (St. Augustine)
North Marion (Citra)
Palatka – moved up from Class 4A
* CLASS 4A
– Region 2
Astronaut (Titusville)
Central (Brooksville)—down from Class 5A
Cocoa
Hernando (Brooksville)—down from Class 5A
Keystone Heights
Santa Fe (Alachua)
South Sumter (Bushnell)
Space Coast (Cocoa)
The Villages
Umatilla
* CLASS 3A
– Region 1
Chipley—up from Class 1A
Crescent City—up from Class 1A
Episcopal (Jacksonville)
Florida High (Tallahassee)
Interlachen
Maclay (Tallahassee)—up from Class 2A
P. K. Yonge (Gainesville)
Pensacola Catholic
Providence (Jacksonville)—up from SSAC
Trinity Catholic (Ocala)
Walton (DeFuniak Springs)
* CLASS 2A
– Region 1
Aucilla Christian (Monticello)
FAMU DRS (Tallahassee)
Munroe Day (Quincy)
North Florida Christian (Tallahassee)
North Florida Educational (Jacksonville)
Rocky Bayou Christian (Niceville)
St. Francis Catholic Academy (Gainesville)
St. John Paul II (Tallahassee)
St. Joseph (St. Augustine)
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville)—down from Class 3A
University Christian (Jacksonville)
* CLASS 1A
– Region 3
Bell
Branford
Chiefland
Dixie County (Cross City)
Fort White
Hilliard
Lafayette (Mayo)
Trenton
Union County (Lake Butler)
– Region 4
Bradford (Starke)—down from Class 4A
Bronson
Fort Meade
Hawthorne
Newberry
Pahokee
Taylor (Pierson)—down from Class 3A
Wildwood
Williston
* INDEPENDENT
Oak Hall School (Gainesville)