With the final approval of classifications and districts for Oregon high schools over the next four years just six weeks away, a new proposal has come forth that would greatly change the nature of the Sunset Conference.

The Oregon School Activities Association’s Classification and Districting Committee met last week and added the Sunset Conference to a list of proposed hybrid leagues for the next four-year time block.

The move was prompted by continued enrollment drops in Gold Beach and Reedsport, and would keep the coastal schools and Glide together during the regular season, reducing travel time for those schools.

But as much as Gold Beach and Reedsport like the idea of being in Class 2A — both are under the new proposed upper limit for the classification of 225 students — the concept of the hybrid also brought concern to local administrators over how playoffs would be handled.

“I don’t understand how they’re going to do the playoffs,” said Reedsport athletic director James Hixenbaugh. “It could be a nightmare. I think they’re setting up for a lot of trouble.”

In the newest proposal, Reedsport and Gold Beach would be in Class 2A, while Coquille, Myrtle Point, Bandon and Glide would be in Class 3A.

The larger schools have similar concerns.

“It’s going to create some interesting issues,” said Coquille athletic director Dan Cumberland. “We’re virtually going to have to revamp all our (standard operating procedures). It’s going to change the scope of how we put together league competition.”

But, Cumberland also noted that it’s better than at least one alternative — the larger schools being linked in a group with Rogue Valley-area schools Rogue River, Cascade Christian, Illinois Valley and St. Mary’s, along with Lakeview, which is in south central Oregon, 320 miles by car from Coquille.

The coastal schools have been linked with Rogue River and Cascade Christian since last year, and Cumberland said that is manageable, but not with more schools.

“If we expand it into Lakeview and St. Mary’s, there aren’t any of us who think that’s plausible to put together travel time and time out of class,” he said.

The committee put out the new proposal this week so schools around the state could consider it before the committee’s final public meeting on Sept. 28 in Wilsonville. The group will then forward its proposal to the OSAA Executive Board, which will make a final decision in a meeting Oct. 28 that also will include an opportunity for public testimony.

OSAA Assistant Executive Director Peter Weber, a liaison to the Classification and Districting Committee, understands the concerns of schools about playoffs, and said no decisions have been made.

“We know it’s a legitimate question,” Weber said. “We know it’s a question we can’t answer well.”

Weber envisions a system where schools in the Sunset hybrid would combine with schools in the proposed Southern Oregon hybrid — Cascade Christian, Rogue River, St. Mary’s, Illinois Valley and Lakeview in Class 3A, and Bonanza, Chiloquin and Lost River in Class 2A — for distributing playoff spots. But those decisions, Weber emphasized, will be made by another group.

“We don’t want to do the job of the Championship Committee,” he said.

The OSAA Championship Committee was appointed last week, and includes Marshfield Principal Greg Mulkey. It will begin meeting soon.

As in previous proposals, Marshfield was grouped in a Eugene hybrid with current and former Midwestern League schools and Marist, which has asked to move up to Class 5A. The Far West League remains unchanged.

One other notable change in the new proposal though, is Pacific being allowed to stay in the Class 1A Skyline League despite having an enrollment over the upper Class 1A limit.

Pacific has been in the Skyline League for the current time block because school administrators successfully argued it was geographically isolated from other Class 2A schools — the same reason Lakeview has been in Class 2A instead of 3A.

To stay in Class 1A, Pacific had to get approval to play down under a new concept that must still be approved by the OSAA Delegate Assembly.

Pacific’s administrators successfully argued it still was geographically isolated, and had not had overwhelming success since joining the Skyline League.

Eight schools petitioned to play down a level, and Pacific was the only one to get approval, though two others ended up in lower classifications when new enrollment limits were set, Weber said. As long as the Delegate Assembly approves the concept, Pacific will stay in the Skyline League with Powers and other Class 1A schools.

The biggest new news for the South Coast, though was the Sunset Hybrid. It had not been included in the previous proposals, which had featured five other hybrids around the state.

Gold Beach athletic director Kevin Swift said the hybrid is welcome news provided all the kinks can be worked out. If Gold Beach had been the lone Class 2A school on the South Coast, the Panthers likely would have been traveling as far as Oakridge for league games.

“I am very, very pleased, as is our community and our (school) board, that we are given an opportunity to stay with the teams that we’ve been with,” Swift said.

He also noted that the hybrid will be a useful tool as Glide and Myrtle Point drop into Class 2A if their enrollment continues to decline as expected.

“I appreciate their vision to look down the line,” Swift said.

The entire proposal can be viewed online at www.osaa.org. Comments may be made by e-mail to peterw@osaa.org before the Sept. 28 meeting.