Members of the Amarillo Independent School District and others in Austin on Monday trying to persuade the University Interscholastic League to change its recent realignment that split Tascosa and Amarillo, keeping THS in Class 5A and causing the Rebels athletic and academic squads to travel to Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, Abilene and San Angelo for competitions the next two years. The bid to have THS dropped to 4A was rejected.
Below is the statement from the AISD following the meeting:
“We made our case before the UIL Assignment Appeals Committee today, and I am disappointed that our appeal to drop Tascosa down to the 4A Classification was denied. The committee was sympathetic to our concerns over the lost class time for our student athletes and instructed the UIL staff to work with us to find other ways to help this situation. It is unfortunate that current UIL rules do not allow for any exemptions that would alleviate the travel burden for Tascosa. However, we knew going into today’s hearing that the odds of the UIL providing some relief were slim. Now that we know the final decision, we will turn our focus on making the best of this situation, which will include the use of some new ideas and strategies to help mitigate the travel hardship for our athletes and their parents.” -- Rod Schroder, AISD Superintendent
