After it drastically changed its postseason structure prior to this school year, the MAIS has announced more modifications to its classifications and districts for 2026-2027.
The MAIS will be eliminating the 4A classification and shifted back to classes 1-3A. This is reverting back to the 2013 model, which MAIS Director Barrett Donahoe told the Clarion-Ledger led to the success of the three-class system.
"We took the statistical data of the number of students and the classifications from the top to the bottom of the largest to the smallest schools in each of the classifications," Donahoe said. "We looked back at the last time we had a three-class structure, which we were so prominent in our association for so many years, and it was sustainable."
"What we found was that the number of the largest schools to the smallest school in each classification actually lowered from where it was, 12-10 years ago. We looked at that, and we were able to align classifications a lot, based more on geographical locations with like-sized schools. That is a big win, a very big plus."
Class 3A will consist of 20 schools, Class 2A will have 35 schools and Class 1A will have 40 schools. The 3A playoffs will now feature two state titles instead of three and conclude on Nov. 13, but the power-points ranking system will remain the same.
This change will affect football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, track and field, archery, swimming, cross country, soccer and golf.
Regarding local programs, Parklane, Centreville and Amite School Center are all in (somewhat) new-look districts.
The Pioneers are in 3A District 5, which also includes Silliman Institute, Cathedral and Oak Forest.
The Tigers and Rebels are both in 2A's District 6, with Adams County Christian, Central Hinds and St. Aloysius joining them.
*The EJ is self-admittedly a bit late to this news, as it was formally announced last Wednesday.*
