FHSAA hits pause on Rural class, merges it with 1A for next 2 years after dozens of schools exit

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida High School Athletic Association is pausing the Rural class in football and putting those teams in Class 1A for the next two years after an emergency board of directors meeting on Thursday.

The FHSAA was forced to take that drastic action after schools in the Rural class dropped down from 32 last year to 16 as programs departed for a more even playing field in the Sunshine State Athletic Association. FHSAA policy 12.3.2.1 requires at least 24 schools for there to be a rural classification.

The decision only applies to football.

“The rural schools that want to be part of the state series can now do so,” FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon said in a statement.

“We listened to our member schools, and they made it clear this move would create a more even playing field and give them something to play for.”

The board meeting branched off into numerous talking points that centered around recruiting, pushing teams up a classification if they added more than five transfers, among other flash points out of the board’s control.

Merging what was left of the Rural class means that programs like Hawthorne, Madison County, Pahokee, Williston and Blountstown will now compete with the likes of Trinity Christian and University Christian come playoff time. The vote passed 11-1. Districts will be announced in the coming weeks.

Also passing was the idea to create a separate independent class to afford teams the opportunity to stay in the FHSAA and compete in a league, albeit with no state championship at the end. That was done in response to the SSAA’s rapidly rising membership that has drained the FHSAA of more than two dozen football programs over the last two years.

Locally, schools like Fernandina Beach, Paxon and West Nassau have thrived since joining the SSAA. The Pirates played for the Atlantic League state championship in 2024, and the Warriors competed for it last year.

Proponents of the SSAA say it allows smaller programs to be able to compete on a level playing field, and away from schools whose rosters are larger or beefed up by an influx of transfers.