Iowa's Private Matter: A look at private schools in high school athletics.

Iowa’s Private Matter-A look at private schools in high school athletics

The CAM Cougars baseball team knew its’ season was over. They trotted back to the dugout trying to keep their heads high.

The many fans from the communities of Cumberland, Anita and Massena applauded them as they left the field at Principal Park

The schools’ first ever trip to the Iowa High School State Baseball Tournament. Before the game, they were taking in every moment, sight and sound.

Now it was all over.

A small public school had just ran into a powerhouse private school

Dreams of a state championship dashed, forever wondering what could have been while taking in the emotions of a wonderful season.

“We were happy to be there, the support we had behind us being the first team in school history to make the state tournament was awesome,” head coach Dan Daugherty said, “I just wished it could have played out a little different,”

The scoreboard read, Newman Catholic, Mason City 10 CAM 2.

While CAM made the hour-bus ride home wondering what-if, and then watched the rest the tournament on television, Newman Catholic preceded to cruise to its third state championship in five years.

The players from Newman Catholic’s championship team paid roughly $5,000 apiece for the state title

“I personally feel that private schools should have to play up a class,” Daugherty said.

Newman Catholics athletic success, along with that of many other private schools have been a topic of conversation in the Hawkeye State and has raised an important and heated question.

Do private schools have an unfair competitive advantage in high school athletics?

Private schools do not receive government funding which means they are responsible for all of their own funding. This also means that the state or federal government has minimal involvement. The schools are tasked with creating their own rules and regulations.

Unlike public schools, private schools have the right to choose students.

Private schools, unlike public schools are legally allowed to “recruit” students because that is how they get students to come to their school.

“One advantage of being a private school is that we have the right choose our students,” Bishop Heelan Catholic Athletic Director Jason Pratt said, “If we accept a student and he is disruptive or fails to succeed our expectations, we have the right to tell the student to leave, whereas public schools cannot do that,” 

Private schools do not have school districts meaning students can come from anywhere meaning that a kid, who is a good athlete or student, could end up at a private school rather than the public school district that he resides in.

“The biggest advantage of a private school is that there are no boundaries,” Pratt said.

Although most private schools claim that a majority come from their surrounding area, not all of them do.

“Last year, we had an athlete transfer in from out of the state that wanted to attend our school, it’s the first that has happened in 15 years, but it happens,” Dowling Catholic Athletic Director Tom Wilson said.

Dowling Catholic is not the only private school that has had student-athletes come from out of state.

Bishop Heelan Catholic, located in Sioux City has found itself benefiting from its proximity to South Dakota and Nebraska.

“About 90-percent of our students come from Sioux City, the other 10-percent come are students that come from Nebraska or South Dakota, if they want to go to a private school, we are their only option,” Pratt said.

Since 2008, the football and boys’ basketball teams at Bishop Heelan have combined to win five state championships.

Dowling Catholic recently won its fifth consecutive football state championship in Class 4A, Iowa’s largest class.

Newman Catholics recent baseball championship marked the 13^th time that a private school had won a state baseball championship since 2008.

In the last ten years, a private school has been crowned football state champion 21 of the possible 60 times, 35-percent of the time. In 2013, five of the six state champions were private schools.

In boys’ basketball, 14 of the last 32 state champions have been a private school, meaning that a private school has won the title 44-percent of the time. In 2017, three of the four state champions were private schools.

Private schools dominating high school athletics is not a problem exclusive to Iowa.

In the 2011-12 school year, 36-percent of Alabama’s state championship athletic teams came from private schools.

In California, only 26-percent of the schools are private, but private schools have accounted for 53-percent of the state titles.

These statistics have led many people to lobby for a change in high school athletics.

As of 2014, at least 19 states have no special regulations in regards to private schools in high school athletics.

Private schools compete in their own class in New Jersey, Florida and Maryland.

Indiana determines classification based on recent post-season success. Meaning that a dominant small, private or public school could play larger schools.

Many states have preferred the multiplier system.

The multiplier system adds a pre-determined number to the private schools enrollment. For example, Missouri applies a 1.35 multiplier to private schools.

However, doing so may not guarantee that a private school moves up a class. For example, Newman Catholic has an enrollment of 108, with the multiplier their enrollment would be considered 145, which is small enough that they would likely be small enough to continue to compete in Class 1A baseball, Iowa’s smallest class.

Adding a multiplier would also not affect many large schools such as Dowling Catholic.

“We are in the largest class in Iowa, so whatever changes they made would not affect us,” Wilson said.

A recent poll on social media of nearly 300 people showed that 86-percent of those surveyed believe that private schools should either be in a class of their own or have a multiplier put on their enrollment.

Despite all the statistics, actions of from other states and public outcry, high school sports fans in Iowa should not be expecting a change anytime soon.

“Early in its history, the decision was made by school administrators that the IHSAA should have one membership – regardless of public, private, all male schools, schools where students are placed by the court, etc.  That has continued to be our position,” Iowa High School Athletic Association Executive Director Allen Beste said.

 According to Beste, the IHSAA has a classification committee. The committee consists of superintendents, principals and athletic directors from public and private schools of various sizes.

“The committee believes success is as much a socio-economic issue as it is public vs. nonpublic issue.  Also, factors such as tradition, coaching staff, proximity to urban areas, family values and open enrollment can all contribute to success, as well as student-athlete talent,” Beste said.

Despite all of its advantages, attending a private school does come with one significant disadvantage; price.

Tuition at Dowling Catholic costs just under $10,000 a year, parents of students at Bishop Heelan pay approximately $3,000 if they belong to the diocese.

“The biggest disadvantage when it comes to getting students or athletes is the price, contrary to popular belief Dowling does not offer scholarships to athletes,” Wilson said. “I get calls every year from kids that are interested in coming, but once the realization of the price sets in, they are not willing to make it work,”

Schools such as Dowling Catholic or Bishop Heelan Catholic have the advantage of being in metropolitan areas and decent size enrollments. Not all private schools have that luxury.

Don-Bosco, a private Roman-Catholic high school located in the small town of Gilbertville, is one of the smallest private schools in the state. With an enrollment of just 83-students, the Dons play football at the eight-man level.

The numbers game has failed to stop the Dons from being successful, this past fall its football team picked up its’ third state title in five years. The wrestling program has also seen success amassing six state championships since 2006.

People of Gilbertville attribute their recent success to something other than being a private school.

“The main factor is the blue collar work ethic of our students. We are not a wealthy community but we work hard,” Don Bosco Athletic Director Tom Hogan said. “I feel our coaching staffs in both wrestling and football are as good as any in the state. The combination of the two have led to success,”

While potential changes to the classification system would not affect Dowling Catholic or Bishop Heelan, it would certainly have an impact on Don Bosco.

“My answer would be, give me a good reason for doing this beside the fact that we are winning? The first 7 years our football team won very few games. No one was accusing us of recruiting or saying that we should be in another class,” Hogan said.

Hogan also rejects the notion that private schools such as Don Bosco have some sort of competitive advantage.

“I'm not sure how it could be an advantage when students have to pay tuition. No matter how good of an athlete the student may be, they still pay. My son was the 8-man player of the year his senior year that we won our first state title and we had to pay full tuition,” Hogan said.

Some private schools even compete against other private schools for students.

Only 21-miles separate Unity Christian and Western Christian but proximity has not stopped either team from being athletic powerhouses, particularly in volleyball and girls basketball.

“Having another Christian high school close by in my mind is a good thing. I believe competition brings out our best and if we were the only option for parents, we might find ourselves becoming complacent,” Unity Christian Athletic Director Terry Schouten said, “ Now, we have to continually be looking for ways to improve ourselves as a school if we want to be in the market for area students,”.

While the majority of public schools compete against private schools. Some public schools face the challenge of competing against private schools on the field and for students, such as Algona High School, who competes with in-town rival Bishop Garrigan.

“I know through the years, there have been some good athletes from the private school that I wished came to the public school because our teams would have been much more athletic.  I'm sure Bishop Garrigan coaches have thought that a time or two as well,” Algona Athletic Director Shelly TerHark said.

TerHark also believes that having a private school in Algona may benefit their public school when it comes to athletics.

“I would guess that if Bishop Garrigan did not exist, our enrollment may push up to a 4A school, so our travel would be much different for Regional/District games,” TerHark said.

Many other towns could suffer the same problem as Algona if not for private schools. For example, Carroll Community High School is a Class 3A school, Kuemper Catholic, also located in Carroll is a Class 2A school. Without Kuemper Catholic, Carroll High could possibly be forced to play in 4A, which would force them to compete against Des Moines area schools.

Whether the public likes it or not, it is almost certain that private schools are not going anywhere. Given the remarks by Beste it does not appear that the IHSAA is any hurry to make changes to the way private schools are handled by the IHSAA.

Which means that dominant programs such as Dowling Catholic, Bishop Heelan and Newman Catholic are most likely going to continue winning.

While those who reject the idea of private schools competing against public schools will continue to point out every time a private school hoists a state championship trophy.