High school athletics in North Carolina may look a lot different in the fall of 2025.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association informed member schools on Tuesday that a proposal to cap the number of schools in each classification at 64 has received enough votes to pass, potentially leading to seven classifications in the next alignment of schools in the 2025-26 school year.
The proposal to limit each class to 64 schools, based solely on average daily membership (ADM), required approval from three-fourths of NCHSAA member schools â 324 schools â to pass. The email Tuesday from NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker said that threshhold had been reached.
Tucker said more details would be released during the NCHSAA spring meeting on May 4.
The potential move to seven classifications comes with a caveat â Senate Bill 636, filed April 6 in the North Carolina Legislature, would prevent the NCHSAA from having more than four classifications. That bill would also require all charter and non-public schools to move up one classification rather than play in the class in which they would be placed based on ADM.
There are currently 432 member schools in the NCHSAA, which would mean seven classifications beginning with the next realignment in the 2025-26 school year.