Greensburg Salem officials see shift to smaller enrollment class as a plus for district athletics

Greensburg Salem’s Golden Lions will compete against teams from schools with smaller enrollments beginning next fall, a move down that school officials say should be a good one for district athletics.

Greensburg Salem will drop from Class 4A to 3A in football, Class 6A to 4A in boys basketball and Class 5A to 4A in girls basketball.

“We were the fourth-smallest 4A team in the state last year, so 3A is a better position for us as far as the competition,” said Superintendent Ken Bissell. “We’re hoping that this puts us in more close proximity, maybe to some closer local rivals”

In 4A, Greensburg Salem’s football team has been traveling over an hour to many games, Bissell said.

The shift in PIAA classes, based on student enrollment, comes with a more uniform accounting among districts of nontraditional students, Bissell said.

Under PIAA rules, districts may count just 10% of nontraditional students, including those attending regional career and technology (CTC) schools, toward enrollment in grades 9-11 for purposes of athletic classification.

“Many local schools were not doing that with their CTC students,” Bissell said.

With the correct accounting in place at Greensburg Salem, its 90 CTC students count only as nine students.

“That brought our enrollment number down, which puts us into 3A,” Bissell said.

According to figures released by the PIAA, Greensburg Salem’s athletic enrollment is 214. Districts assigned to Class 3A in football have enrollments ranging from 181-262 students.

“I wish we could go back in time to play local teams,” school board member Frank Gazze said at this week’s board discussion meeting. “That’s what we need to do, not travel an hour and 15 minutes to play somewhere where you have no vested rivalry.”

Gazze said he’d like to see Greensburg Salem teams play counterparts at such other nearby districts as Mt. Pleasant Area, Hempfield Area, Jeannette and Yough.

Mt. Pleasant, with a PIAA enrollment of 181, also will be in Class 3A. Hempfield Area, with an enrollment of 553, is in Class 5A. Yough, with 168 enrolled, is in Class 2A. Jeannette, with 97, is in Class A.

Bissell said it’s not yet clear what teams the Lions will be scheduled to play in 2022-2023.

Other WPIAL teams in Class 3A in football include Beaver (253 enrollment), Belle Vernon (251), Woodland Hills (245), Elizabeth Forward (238), Knoch (229), Hopewell (225), Southmoreland (224), West Mifflin (218), Shady Side Academy (213), Freeport (213), East Allegheny (207), Quaker Valley (205), South Allegheny (203), Avonworth (199), Deer Lakes (192), South Park (188) and Valley (187).