Proposal To Remove Oklahoma Private Schools From Postseason Fails

A second proposal by Blanchard superintendent Jim Beckham to separate public and private schools for postseason play was voted down.

At the monthly Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association board of directors meeting on Wednesday, a proposal to separate private schools into their own playoff system after competing in regular-season play with public schools was voted to down by a count of 12-1.

"The difference we see in this proposal is that it excludes charter schools from the original proposal," OSSAA executive director David Jackson said. "The staff's recommendation is to deny this as well."

Current OSSAA rules force private schools to play one classification higher based on success. Beckham strongly feels the rule has not achieved its goal.

This was the second proposal from Beckham, who had his initial proposal voted down in February 12-2. In that proposal, private, charter and magnet schools would have all been separated in the postseason.

Beckham's latest proposal eliminated charter and magnet schools from the discussion.