Private school multiplier could be enacted with passage of HB 2176
A new website is encouraging Kansas parents and taxpayers to implore the state legislature to enact KSHSAA’s private school multiplier.
Launched by Andy Hopper, FairPlayKS.org is a site that allows Kansans to send emails to the Kansas House Committee on Education advocating on behalf of HB 2176, which would allow KSHSAA to enact its multiplier.
“This is a hot-button topic throughout the state and it’s important that we can have a coordinated approach,” Hopper said. “A lot of times, it seems that things would be put on social media and it turned into complaints rather than having the approach of fairness. I think being fair is the best way to be heard.”
Hopper is a parent in Eudora whose wife, Brooke Hopper, is the high school volleyball coach. Bishop Miege, a Class 4A private school that has dominated the classification, beat Eudora in the sub-state championship in 2024 before winning the state title.
“It was tough to watch,” Hopper said. “I saw all the work they put in all season. It wasn’t the impact it had on my wife. It was the players themselves. Those kids become your kids. You talk about them so much. It’s hard to see them go through that and have to fight an uphill battle that is blatantly not fair.”
Hopper was also formerly an assistant boys basketball coach at Parsons, where the prospect of facing Bishop Miege in the postseason loomed large over area.
Last winter, Fort Scott’s girls basketball team intentionally lost a game to Independence to avoid Bishop Miege in the substate tournament.
“Kansas needs to level the playing field. That starts with a multiplier,” said Brianna Volmer, the head girls basketball coach at Labette County. Her team lost to Bishop Miege in the state tournament in 2024, while Labette County’s football team lost to Bishop Miege in the state semifinals last fall.
“Schools are making radical decisions that don’t reflect our character. We need to keep the integrity of the game of basketball intact.”
The website includes information on the disparity of state titles won by private schools across Kansas. While it fluctuates from year to year, private schools in Kansas win between a quarter and a third of state titles despite representing less than 10% of all schools. Classes 4A and 5A are the most heavily impacted.
“This is a grassroots campaign. Right now, it’s word of mouth,” Hopper said. “We have contacts with administrators throughout Kansas. We want to lean on those. We won’t limit ourselves, either. We’ll use social media to get the word out. We have flyers to print out with QR codes. We want to lay it out as fast as possible.”
In 2022, KSHSAA passed a weighted multiplier proposal that would bump schools like Bishop Miege up a classification. The multiplier wouldn’t be applied to private schools that don’t win a minimum of five state titles in a five-year span.
A state statute has prevented KSHSAA from implementing the multiplier.
K.S.A 72-114 states that KSHSAA must “establish a system for the classification of member high schools according to student attendance.”
KSHSAA’s legal counsel advised the association that implementing the multiplier would violate the statute.
Since the multiplier’s passage in 2022, KSHSAA has lobbied the Kansas Legislature to amend the statute.
It’s never escaped committee, despite the mandate from the public.
“There’s a little bit of confusion as to why it won’t be discussed further,” KSHSAA spokesperson Jeremy Holaday said. “There was a lot of talk from the legislature about wanting to see something. Now it’s in front of them and it’s not going forward.”
It’s currently Turnaround Week for the Kansas Legislature. By the end of this week, bills must pass out of their chamber of origin to remain active for the 2026 session.
“If it doesn’t come out of committee, it might be lost until next year,” said Paola High School Principal Jeff Hines, who has been a vocal supporter of the multiplier.
“If (the site) comes out now and garners all this attention but we miss a deadline, then we will have lost the gusto going into this year’s legislative session.”
Hopper said the timing of the launch of the website was a “hindsight moment.”
“If it does take us a year, we’re prepared to continue the momentum,” Hopper said. “We’ll keep pushing no matter what it takes. It’s been long enough. Enough teams have been affected.”
Hines believes the website represents a fresh approach to garnering the attention of the legislature.
“It’s a totally different approach. We know what viral videos do,” Hines said. “This can be circulated all over the internet. There’s a ton of people that will log on and interact with this. It’ll be shared and reshared. Once you get something like that circulating, it can put some pressure on our legislators.”
Holaday believes the association’s multiplier, which passed a statewide vote of member schools, represents the will of the people.
“Our representatives’ job is to represent the people,” Holaday said. “If communication comes from their people, they need to pay attention to it. Whether or not it fits their goals is up to them.”
At press time, FairPlayKS. org reported that nearly 300 emails had been sent from its site to legislators advocating for HB 2176 and the multiplier. If the bill dies in committee and is sidelined for yet another year, the association may go back to the drawing board.
“Short of schools refusing to play private schools, I think we’re stuck,” Hines said. “KSHSAA won’t move forward and violate the law. Nobody wants that. Am I suggesting a school like Labette County should forfeit a playoff game? No. But it’d get somebody’s attention.”
Holaday said one idea is to have the multiplier apply equally to public and private schools.
“Once we know what happens this session, we’ll report to our executive board in April and get their thoughts,” Holaday said. “The main thing that gets brought up, depending on who you’re talking to, is whether or not this could apply to public schools as well. It could be an overall success factor. If that were to get explored by our schools and legislators, that could spark a discussion. That’s a little speculative, but that is a common conversation.”
Hopper said he doesn’t believe the multiplier is an attack on private schools.
“We want to level the playing field. We’re not anti-private school,” Hopper said. “We want fairness in Kansas sports. That’s the main point we want to get across.”
