Released on Friday, the University Interscholastic League put out the official cutoff numbers for conference realignment for the 2024-2026 school years.
Even with a few schools worried about possibly moving up, no area schools changed classification now with the numbers out.
Bowie was never worried about moving up from 3A to 4A, reporting 493 kids and the cutoff for 4A classification being 545. The school was even farther away from dropping down to division II in football, with the 3A division I cutoff number at 369.
Almost as big of news is the departure of state powerhouse Brock, which ended Bowie playoff runs in several sports over the years as the Eagles move up to 4A.
Nocona was ecstatic this time two years ago when it dropped down from 3A to 2A by one student. The Indians have reaped the benefits in almost every sport last year and already this year. Surely Nocona would not get so lucky again.
Well, the school turned in even less than it did two years ago and will stay in 2A for another two years. The cutoff number for 3A was 254 this time and Nocona turned in 234.
Saint Jo was another school that was worried about moving up. The Panthers have been the biggest 1A school in the area and have used that advantage to post great results in recent years in almost every sport.
Moving up to 2A would not just be an increase in competition, but also would mean Saint Jo football players and coaches would be transitioning from six-man football to traditional 11-man for the first time in many years.
Luckily, the Panthers were a few kids under the cutoff number once again. Saint Jo turned in 100.5 and the 2A cutoff was 105.
With the Panthers’ athletic director Mark Stevens retiring at the end of the school year, the next hire will have the benefit of utilizing Saint Jo’s number advantage for at least two more years before people have to worry again about the possibility of moving up.
Every other area school was not worried about moving up from 1A to 2A. However, for Gold-Burg and Forestburg, the two schools were worried about moving up in the football classification from division II to division I.
Forestburg was close, reporting 57 and the cutoff number being 61.5. Gold-Burg was well under reporting 49.
For area schools Bellevue and Prairie Valley that don’t play football, neither were worried about having to move up from 1A to 2A. Both would have to nearly double its enrollment numbers just to start to worry about the possibility as Bellevue turned in 52 and Prairie Valley turned in 45.
The final stage in realignment won’t come until Feb. 1, 2024, when the UIL releases district alignments for 2024-2026.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. To see enrollment numbers for all schools in the state, go to this link https://www.uiltexas.org/press-releases/detail/uil-conference-cutoff-numbers-for-2024-2026-reclassification-realignment.