By Stephen Smoot
On Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., Judge H. Charles Carl convened a special and expedited hearing to address the ongoing issues delaying the class single A volleyball tournament.
The Hardy County Board of Education, representing East Hardy High School, brought suit to address the insertion of Tyler Consolidated into the tournament. Tyler Consolidated had competed as a class AA team all season, but after a judicial ruling, the WVSSAC reclassified them as a single A school after the start of the sectional tournament.
Carl focused significant attention on two issues. First, the WVSSAC was party to a classification suit brought before Kanawha County Circuit Court last April. That case lapsed without resolution. Carl questioned why that case was not pursued to resolution. He speculated that could have ended all classification issues before the opening of the fall sports season
Without taking the position that it was an inherently bad idea, Carl cited the fact that the WVSSAC had few issues when it used enrollment only as a formula for classification. He stated that the new formula, which includes location near a city with 10,000 or more people and socio-economic conditions, as injecting subjectivity into the process, opening the door for more dispute.
He stated that he will issue a ruling later in the week, but strongly urged all parties to consider the fact that only the West Virginia State Supreme Court of Appeals will have the ability to bring a final decision to the matter.
Parents and/or players from Pendleton County, East Hardy, and Tyler Consolidated attended the hearing. The hearing only addressed volleyball, but Carl speculated that issues surrounding football could affect its postseason as well.
(This was written in brief to be included in this week’s publication. A more detailed account, including the ruling and any subsequent developments, will appear in next week’s edition.)