Another year, another new look for the South Puget Sound League. And once again, the Federal Way School District seems to be getting the short end of the stick.
The SPSL 4A principals officially announced earlier this month that Des Moines’ Mount Rainier High School has been accepted into the league beginning in the fall and will play in the league’s North Division.
The principals also voted that either Thomas Jefferson or Federal Way high schools will be moved from the North Division into the South, where they will join fellow district member Todd Beamer. The SPSL officials are leaving the decision up to the Federal Way School District of which schools will move to the South.
But that is where the current problem lies. Neither TJ nor Federal Way wants to be placed in the SPSL South Division because of a huge jump in travel expenses.
Federal Way High School has even submitted an appeal to the West Central District to overturn any placement of the two schools into the SPSL South, claiming a geography precedent was set two years ago when Beamer was moved into the South Division.
“This doesn’t mesh and isn’t consistent with what they’ve done in the past,” said Federal Way High School athletic director Miguel Perez. “The criteria they used then, is not being used now.”
Before the 2008 school year, the SPSL athletic directors and principals moved Federal Way, Jefferson and Decatur into the North Division, while Beamer remained in the South. The claim for Beamer’s move was based only on geography, according to the SPSL.
Beamer staying in the SPSL South was against the wishes of Federal Way district officials, who wanted both Auburn Riverside and Auburn to move into the South Division so all four district schools could compete in the same division. That proposal was shot down by SPSL principals.
“We have been split up and paid our dues here,” said Federal Way School District athletic liaison Greg Flynn. “So it’s kind of disheartening.”
In terms of geography, Auburn and Auburn Riverside are located south of the two Federal Way schools and closer to Highway 167, which is the main freeway leading to a bulk of the SPSL South schools in Graham, Spanaway and Puyallup. Federal Way is contending that both Auburn and Auburn Riverside could move into the SPSL South and Beamer could move into the North, joining fellow district rivals Federal Way and TJ.
“When you look at it, obviously multi-high school districts would want to all be together,” Perez said. “It seems like it’s going another direction for us.”
But principals in the Auburn and Kent school districts voted against the proposal because they want to remain in the same division and the increased cost for transportation.
A decision on Federal Way High School’s appeal will most likely go in front of the SPSL principals before being heard by the West Central District. But they don’t meet again until March 1. If either TJ or Federal Way is eventually forced to participate in the SPSL South, it would leave the four Federal Way high schools in three different divisions of the SPSL. Decatur is set to play in the SPSL’s 3A Division next fall because of lower enrollment numbers.
