Doug Pacey breaks down the recent tweaks made to the 2A & 3A classifications due to the large numbers of opt-ups.

“We’re having a heck of a time determining if we’ll have anyone left in 2A,” said Mike Colbrese, WIAA executive director.

Colbrese, of course, was joking. But there’s some truth to those words. I’ve counted more than a dozen schools that are expected to opt up from 1A or 2A to 3A or 4A. And there could be more.

What does this mean? Every “small” schools that opts up, sends a school with a larger enrollment down the classification ladder. That can create a canyon-esque enrollment gap between the smallest and largest schools of a single classification, especially in 2A where the schools at the top of the classification could have twice the enrollment of the smallest schools. Colbrese said he is hopeful that there is “close to 17 percent of schools in each classification,” but no dividing line has been set yet.