The Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control on Wednesday released a football realignment proposal for the 2027-28 seasons that would see 30 schools change classes, with 15 moving up and 15 moving down.
Schools have three weeks to appeal their placements before the KHSAA makes the alignment final at its next meeting, set for May 5-6.
The realignment will affect seven schools in Louisville, with Kentucky Country Day (2A), Shawnee (3A), Christian Academy (4A), Doss (5A) and Fairdale (6A) all moving up in class. Western (2A) and DuBois (A) both will move down in class.
KCD and CAL — both state champions in 2025 — will be move up as the result of an “enrollment multiplier” for non-public schools the KHSAA passed at its board meeting in February.
The multiplier affects 16 private schools currently playing football in Kentucky and multiplies their boys enrollments by 1.35 for purposes of alignment. For example, Christian Academy’s average boys enrollment of 305.5 would place the football team in Class 3A. But the multiplier of 1.35 makes the enrollment 412.4 and places CAL in 4A.
In February, KHSAA commissioner Julian Tackett said the “enrollment multiplier” is used by several other states as a way to account for schools “that can draw (students) from a bigger area than most other schools.”
“What are some ways we can get a little bit of competitive equity, knowing that there are certain things that are off the table, especially in football?” said Tackett, referring to a complete split of private and public schools. “I think it’s an effort to try and keep everybody in the pool together.”
KCD coach Matthew Jones said he would prefer to go to a success factor — like Indiana has — that moves teams up based on how far they advance in the playoffs.
He’s also worried about safety for his program when it faces top Class 2A teams.
“We’re going to be competing with schools with rosters of 70 and 80 like Mayfield and Beechwood with a roster in the 30s,” said Jones, whose Bearcats won their first Class A state title last year. “That’s tough.”
Other noteworthy programs that will move classes include Elizabethtown (4A to 3A), Lexington Christian (2A to 3A), Lexington Catholic (3A to 4A), Covington Catholic (4A to 5A) and Franklin County (4A to 5A).
Fairdale is the only school moving up to Class 6A, a result of Hopkinsville no longer being in the class because of its consolidation with Christian County.
Fairdale went undefeated in its Class 5A district last season and reached the third round of the playoffs but in 2027 will join a Class 6A district with Manual, Pleasure Ridge Park and St. Xavier.
Here’s the KHSAA’s realignment proposal for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. Schools switching classes are in bold:
Class A
District One – Ballard Memorial, Crittenden County (down from 2A), Fulton County, Russellville.
District Two – Campbellsville, Caverna, DuBois (down from 2A), Fort Knox (down from 2A), Louisville Holy Cross.
District Three – Bellevue, Dayton, Covington Holy Cross, Newport, Newport Central Catholic.
District Four – Bracken County (down from 2A), Eminence, Ludlow, Trimble County.
District Five – Berea, Frankfort, Nicholas County, Paris, Sayre.
District Six – Harlan, Lynn Camp, Middlesboro, Pineville, Williamsburg.
District Seven – East Ridge (down from 2A), Hazard, Phelps, Pikeville.
District Eight – Betsy Layne (down from 2A), Fairview, Paintsville, Raceland.
Class 2A
District One – Caldwell County, Fort Campbell, Mayfield, Todd County Central, Trigg County.
District Two – Edmonson County (down from 3A), Hancock County, McLean County, Owensboro Catholic.
District Three – Clinton County, Green County, Metcalfe County, Monroe County, Somerset.
District Four – Bethlehem (up from A), Danville, Kentucky Country Day (up from A), Washington County, Western (down from 3A).
District Five – Beechwood, Bishop Brossart (up from A), Gallatin County, Owen County, Walton-Verona.
District Six – Jackson County, Lewis County (down from 3A), Morgan County, Powell County (down from 3A), West Carter.
District Seven – Breathitt County, Magoffin County (down from 3A), Martin County, Prestonsburg.
District Eight – Belfry, Knott County Central, Leslie County, Pike County Central, Shelby Valley.
Class 3A
District One – Butler County, Murray, Union County, Webster County.
District Two – Adair County, Casey County, Glasgow, Hart County, McCreary Central.
District Three – Carroll County, Central, DeSales, Henry County, Shawnee (up from 2A).
District Four – Bardstown, Elizabethtown (down from 4A), Larue County, Thomas Nelson.
District Five – Bourbon County, Estill County, Lexington Christian (up from 2A), Mercer County, Western Hills (down from 4A).
District Six – Bath County, Fleming County, Lloyd Memorial, Pendleton County, St. Henry (up from 2A).
District Seven – East Carter, Floyd Central (up from 2A), Lawrence County, Russell.
District Eight – Bell County, Clay County, Knox Central, Letcher County Central, Perry County Central (down from 4A), Rockcastle County.
Class 4A
District One – Calloway County, Hopkins County Central (up from 3A), Madisonville-North Hopkins (down from 5A), Paducah Tilghman.
District Two – Allen County-Scottsville, Franklin-Simpson, Logan County, Ohio County, Warren East.
District Three – Breckinridge County, John Hardin, Marion County, Nelson County, Spencer County, Taylor County.
District Four – Christian Academy (up from 3A), North Oldham, Shelby County, Valley, Waggener.
District Five – Boyle County, Garrard County (up from 3A), Lexington Catholic (up from 3A), Lincoln County.
District Six – Corbin, Harlan County, Russell County, Wayne County, Whitley County.
District Seven – Grant County, Harrison County, Highlands, Holmes, Mason County.
District Eight – Ashland Blazer, Boyd County, Greenup County, Johnson Central, Rowan County.
Class 5A
District One – Apollo, Graves County, Marshall County, Muhlenberg County, Owensboro.
District Two – Barren County, Bowling Green, Grayson County, Greenwood, Warren Central.
District Three – Bullitt Central, Butler, Doss (up from 4A), Iroquois, North Bullitt.
District Four – Atherton, Jeffersontown, Moore, Seneca, South Oldham.
District Five – Boone County, Conner, Cooper, Covington Catholic (up from 4A), Dixie Heights, Scott.
District Six – Anderson County, Collins, Franklin County (up from 4A), Scott County.
District Seven – East Jessamine, Madison Southern, Montgomery County, West Jessamine, Woodford County.
District Eight – North Laurel, Pulaski County, South Laurel, Southwestern.
Class 6A
District One – Christian County, Daviess County, Henderson County, McCracken County.
District Two – Central Hardin, Meade County, North Hardin, South Warren.
District Three – Fairdale (up from 5A), Manual, Pleasure Ridge Park, St. Xavier.
District Four – Bullitt East, Fern Creek, Male, Southern.
District Five – Ballard, Eastern, Oldham County, Trinity.
District Six – Campbell County, Great Crossing, Ryle, Simon Kenton.
District Seven – Henry Clay, Lafayette, Paul Dunbar, Tates Creek.
District Eight – Bryan Station, Frederick Douglass, George Rogers Clark, Madison Central.
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA football realignment to see 30 schools change classes in 2027-28
Reporting by Jason Frakes, Louisville Courier Journal / Louisville Courier Journal
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