A pair of local athletic directors were part of a group of administrators from more than 150 public schools that met Tuesday in State College for what it called a PIAA Playoff Equity Summit.

Lehighton’s Kyle Spotts and Northern Lehigh’s Bryan Geist were part of a three-hour meeting that focused on overhauling the current playoff format in high school football and basketball and leveling the playing field between public and private schools.

In a memo addressed to the PIAA and General Assembly Oversight Committee, the group outlined its mission statement.

“Under current criteria, boundary (traditional public) schools are forced to compete against non-boundary (private, parochial and charter) schools,” read the statement. “Our data and survey results confirm that non-boundary schools have dominated public schools during PIAA playoff competition while claiming a disproportionate number of state titles, as well.”

According to figures released by the PIAA, traditional schools have won 67.2 percent of PIAA state championships in team sports in the last 10 years. However, that number falls to 50 percent in football, 43.2 percent in girls basketball, and 36.4 percent in boys basketball, as “schools of choice” have had the upper-hand in those sports.

The summit presented two scenarios for separate playoff tournaments:

• “Creation of a seventh classification of private & charter ‘schools of choice’ who would face each other in PIAA playoff competition. This classification could be divided into two subdivisions (small, large) with the ‘competition formula’ being used to dictate subdivision status for a school’s two-year cycle.”

• “Revert to the previous four classifications for traditional public schools and use classifications five and six for private and charter ‘schools of choice.’”

According to a list of its beliefs, the summit said the aforementioned playoff structures could be implemented by the 2019-20 season without affecting the regular season.

“I don’t think anything drastic is going to happen from the meeting,” said Spotts. “It’s pretty unprecedented to get that many schools together. I think, in that aspect, it was positive. But I don’t know if anything is going to happen immediately because of that meeting or anything like that. I don’t think anybody (who was) in that room wants to take any drastic measures. I think they want to work something out with the powers-that-be, and come up with a solution that works for everybody.”

The PIAA — Pennsylvania’s governing body for high school athletics — has long maintained that a 1972 state law requires public and private schools to compete in the same tournaments.

However, the summit says the PIAA is wrong and that it will seek an independent legal opinion to prove so.

“I think there are some things they have to look into,” said Spotts. “One of their main points was their interpretation of the legislation, and how they interpreted it, how the PIAA interprets it. That’s one thing that I think they’ll have to figure out, what the proper interpretation of that is, because that is either going to be the sticking point. or it’s going to be something that allows this to go further.”

The PIAA released a statement of its own in response to Tuesday’s meeting.

“The PIAA Board of Directors is made up of 32 diverse, elected representatives of all member schools and other constituencies, and represent each of the stakeholders present at today’s meeting in State College,” the PIAA said. “It is grassroots representational democracy that has been effective for more than 100 years. Much of the information included in today’s presentations has been discussed by the Board, of which the overwhelming majority are public school employees. The Board anticipates that issues pertaining to eligibility and competitive equity will be forwarded to the Board through the proper channels, at which point they will be addressed.

“Open dialogue among all stakeholders will continue to be a strength of PIAA.”

Last week, the PIAA Board of Directors passed major changes that place stricter limits on postseason eligibility for transfer students, as well as a competitive-balance formula that begins in 2020-21 and will classify schools based on a variety of criteria beyond enrollment.

Those involved in Tuesday’s summit hope it was another step in the right direction.

“I think the biggest thing that we took away (was that it) kind of served as a rallying point, I think, to keep the conversation going, in regards to the current setup, and the issues some schools have with it,” said Spotts. “There was a lot of passion in the room from the schools; we all shared a common goal to try and come up with a solution that’s best for the kids and their district, and an equitable system.

“I think that was the biggest takeaway, was just that everybody was kind of on the same page. You could tell that they really cared, obviously, if they spent the time to go out there. It was good to be there, because I think anytime there’s a meeting that could potentially impact member schools. or anything else, I think it’s good to have diligence, and be at those meetings. I think it would be an injustice to the people of Lehighton if we did not attend it. That’s the way myself and our superintendent felt. It can’t hurt to go out to the meeting, and see what it’s all about, and go from there.”

The Scranton Times Tribune contributed to this story