A new five-class system will be in effect in S.C. for 2016

A new five-class system will be in effect in South Carolina for the 2016 school year.

The Executive Committee of the South Carolina High School League voted on the change Tuesday, moments after it decided against another motion to move to a six-class system.

The new format will replace the current four-class system that went into action in 1968.

The SCHSL will have at least two more meetings in the comings months that will determine exactly how the new-look regions will be formed.

Until then, it will not be clear how that will affect Grand Strand area teams. Based on current figures, though, if it is based only upon average daily membership, Carolina Forest will likely be the lone area school in the newly formed Class AAAAA.

Incoming Panthers Athletics Director Tripp Satterwhite said the move could make things complicated, although it’s something the school will start to address immediately upon his arrival on May 1.

“We’ll figure it out,” Satterwhite said. “It definitely makes it harder. Things change all the time. You try to fix what you can.”

According to the Florence Morning News, the proposed region realignment will be submitted to schools in August and finalized in September.

Tuesday’s vote could be considered the most influential change the SCHSL has taken in recent years.

In 1981, Class AAAA added a second football title. Class A (2006) did in 2006 and Class AA (2011) followed suit, creating seven total state championships for that sport while the rest had no more than four.

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 3:48 PM with the headline "A new five-class system will be in effect in S.C. for 2016."