Conference assignment suit dismissed

A lawsuit filed late last year by the Bryant School District against the Arkansas Activities Association seeking to overturn the high school’s conference assignment for the 2014-2016 cycle has been dismissed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mary McGowan.

Bryant was seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief after the AAA, which administers rules and regulations agreed upon by member schools, placed it in the 7A/6A-Central for the upcoming cycle, a move that greatly increases travel for the Class 7A school just southwest of Little Rock.

In an order dated Feb. 5, McGowan said the “scenario before the court” illustrates why it has been “extremely limited” in its ability to review the actions of a voluntary organization like the AAA and “severely diminishes the persuasiveness of Bryant’s argument that it will suffer irreparable harm” because of a travel hardship.

Bryant Superintendent Randy Rutherford said he was disappointed by McGowan’s decision, adding he doesn’t believe the district will pursue further legal action because an appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court could linger for years.

“We did the right thing for our kids and for our parents and for our community,” Rutherford said.

“We gave it a shot to see what would happen. It looks like we’re headed to Siloam Springs, Greenwood and to Alma for games that mean nothing.”

Bryant wanted to remain in the 7A/6A-South, which includes nearby Benton, Sheridan and Lake Hamilton.

McGowan’s decision finalizes conference assignments for the 2014-2016 cycle released by the AAA in June.

Bryant was moved from the South to the Central following a special mail ballot vote last year, when Class 7A and Class 6A schools voted 26-7 to eliminate a controversial power-rating formula used for postseason seeding, blending of schools in two of the four conferences and reduce the number of schools qualifying for the playoffs in 6A from 16 to 12.

Playoff seeding in team sports will now be based strictly on results against schools in the same classification.

After the AAA placed Bryant in the 7A/6A-Central, Bryant unsuccessfully appealed the decision to the AAA’s20-man board of directors in September.

Bryant sued the AAA in October, and McGowan heard approximately three hours of testimony Dec. 3.

Rutherford said Bryant’s one-way travel for conference games would increase from 392.9 total miles to 855.6 total miles in the next cycle, mostly because of trips to Siloam Springs (229 miles), Alma (156) and Greenwood (156) - all Class 6A schools.

McGowan also noted in her ruling that if Bryant was switched with Little Rock Parkview or Little Rock Hall, both assigned to the 6A-South in the coming cycle, one of those two schools would experience a similar travel hardship by moving to the 7A/6A-Central.

Schools are reclassified every two years.

Sports, Pages 19 on 02/07/2014

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