The next meeting of the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) executive committee will include a discussion on a competitive balance formula that could be implemented in the reclassification process for the 2026-28 reclassification cycle.

The GHSA committee is scheduled to meet on Monday which will include talks centered on a formula that could bump top schools in a specific classification up a class depending on well they fared and bump down those that don’t fare as well.

“I’m interested to see where it goes and where we end up. I think it could be a good thing as long as there’s significant data to back it up,” Thomasville athletic director Jeremy Rayburn said. “If we get points for playoffs and you have your chance to move down if you’re not one of the top schools or move up if you are, it’s definitely worth looking at.

“Sitting in my seat, it gets old every two years hearing the same arguments from the same groups. Everybody has their argument, and they believe in it, and that’s great. I don’t think any of them are necessarily better than the others.”

Rayburn emphasized that the formula under discussion would hinge on the athletic program as a whole and not just specific sports.

“At some point in time in the last four to six years a group of ADs put together a competitive balance model, but it was by sport. You might have your boys basketball team competing in 3A and your girls team in 2A. My first response to that as the athletic director is that is a nightmare,” Rayburn said. “The regions have a lot of input on how their region handles everything. If you’re dealing with four different regions across your athletic department, you don’t know which way is up or down half the time.

“One of those (northern states) has a competitive balance model but it is by sport. They hate it, because it’s a logistical nightmare.”

One of the concerns that could arise from this plan is the isolation issue that impacts schools like Thomasville and Thomas County Central. It could worsen if schools move up a classification they were not originally classified to. But it is an issue that Thomasville and Central are used to.

“In South Georgia, schools are not popping up on the corner like they are in (Atlanta). We have who we have. Regardless of whether we get bumped up or get bumped down, in South Georgia, you’re going to have a two-hour bus ride somewhere to play a game within your region. That’s just a reality of it. It stinks,” Rayburn said. “That’s something that the GHSA does consider, isolation within their reclassification process.

“For us, if we were to get bumped up to 2A from where we’re at now, then we’re in there with Crisp, Cook and all the way over to Tattnall County and Savannah. You are talking about an isolation situation. There are those instances and I guess that would just have to go back to the isolation issue.”

There will not be a vote at Monday’s meeting.