UIL to realign districts in new year

Jaden Garcia, Reporter

At the beginning of 2018, the school will have a new University Interscholastic League district alignment for the next two years. UIL realignment is based on how many students attend a school, and it affects what schools compete against each other in athletics, fine arts and even, UIL academics.

“This time every year from now until February, what happens is a lot of coaches and a lot of administrators across the state start trying to speculate what kind of district they will be in,” athletic coordinator Rodney Vincent said. “The very first thing you find out is whether you’re gonna be in 6A, 5A or a 4A school. You find that out based on the enrollment you have at your school.”

Oct. 27 was UIL snapshot day to collect enrollment data. Central Texas is generally competitive location no matter what district a school is in. Two years ago, Vista Ridge got bumped up to 6A because of increased student enrollment. 

“For athletics, we are going to be in one of the best leagues no matter what in this area. Even if there is a shift, and they move us into a different district, all of the surrounding districts whether if it’s the Round Rock schools or if it’s more Leander schools or some of the Austin schools, they all compete at a high level,” Vincent said. “Competition brings out the best in kids. I think it’s good for our school to go against that type of competition.”  

In a realignment year, the goal is to be in a district with schools that have similar enrollment numbers.

“You hope that you’re not in a district where a school has 500 to 600 more kids enrollment than you do. You want the playing fields to be as even as possible,” Vincent said. “It’s always better if you can get in a district with schools that are similar or like yours. I think the districts I’ve been in, everyone one was on a level playing field, and it was competitive. Every single Friday night, there was a close game. A good, close competitive game every week is what you hope for when you get a re-alignment.”

UIL will announce the new districts around February.

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