Shenandoah Valley board backs playoff split between boundary, nonboundary schools

SHENANDOAH – The Shenandoah Valley school board approved a resolution backing a bill that would establish separate playoffs for boundary and nonboundary schools.

House Bill 41 would allow the PIAA to move forward with separate playoffs, potentially on a sport-by-sport basis.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Scott Conklin (D-Centre) in January of last year, moved out of committee by a 20-6 vote and has stalled.

Shenandoah Valley’s school board voted at Wednesday’s meeting to support the bill.

According to Conklin’s co-sponsorship memorandum, he says private, charter, and parochial schools have dominated on the gridiron and hardcourt in statep playoffs.

“While competition is an important aspect of sports, I am also concerned about the safety and welfare of student-athletes,” he said. “Not all student athletes have superior size, strength, and speed, however, when one team has the ability to field more of those athletes due to the lack of a boundary, it creates both an unfair advantage and an unsafe environment.”

In the state basketball playoffs this season,

Shenandoah Valley, for example, only has access to students in Shenandoah borough and West Mahanoy Township. The area’s parochial and private schools, however, can field students from anywhere, if a student’s family is willing to take on the commute.

Micquelynn Kapuschinsky contributed to this report

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Kaylee Lindenmuth

Kaylee Lindenmuth is a Shenandoah native with a passion for journalism and the community she calls home. She is a 12-time Keystone Media Award winner, a PAB Excellence in Broadcasting award winner, and has been nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy award.

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