IHSA Board approves three action items at April meeting

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Monday, April 13, 2026, where the Board approved three action items.

ACTION
1. The Board approved a recommendation to schedule the IHSA Boys Wrestling Regionals on Saturday of IHSA Week 31 (Saturday, February 6 in 2027).

2. The Board approved a recommendation to authorize the Executive Director to appoint member school Athletic Directors to serve as Tellers for IHSA Nominations, Elections and Proposals during the 2026-27 school year. Appointed individuals include:
Nominations: Tony Bauman, Bloomington (H.S.)
Elections: Nicolas Kearfott, Normal (Community)
Proposals: Wes Temples, Normal (Community West)

3. The Board approved a recommendation to reemploy the Associate Executive Directors, Assistant Executive Directors, Director of Information Technology, Executive Assistant, Director of Social Media, and Coordinator of Special Programs.

APPEALS & ELIGIBILITY RULINGS
Appeals 1-3 were held with the IHSA Hearing Board, a subset of the IHSA Board of Directors, virtually on April 2, 2026. Appeals 4-5 were heard virtually by the full Board of Directors on April 13, 2026.

1. The Board sustained the Executive Director's ruling on a student from Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford. The student was granted limited eligibility in accordance with the provisions of IHSA By-law 3.043.3 and was seeking full eligibility.

2. The Board sustained the Executive Director's ruling on a student from Wheaton North High School. The student was seeking a waiver of the rule that requires 30 days of ineligibility when transferring during the school year. The student will have full varsity eligibility on April 18.

3. The Board sustained the Executive Director's ruling on a student from Wheaton Academy in West Chicago. The student was granted limited eligibility in accordance with the provisions of IHSA By-law 3.043.3 and was seeking full eligibility.

4. Officials from Notre Dame High School in Peoria appealed the penalties imposed by the IHSA Executive Director on the school's boys soccer program following incidents with fans and coach at State Series contests in October of 2025. The Board sustained the Executive Director's decision.

5. A former coach from Hampshire High School appealed a coaching suspension for the 2026-27 school year imposed by the IHSA Executive Director after the coach was found to have violated the IHSA's Recruiting By-laws. The Board sustained the Executive Director's decision.

DISCUSSION ITEMS
At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain items the Board discusses, but upon which no action was taken or action may not be required. The following is a report of those items from the April 13, 2026, agenda:

1. The Board reviewed and discussed data on the number of multiplier waivers that have been granted thus far this school year vs. previous years based on changes made to the waiver process entering the 2025-26 school year.

2. The Board reviewed data and discussed its Grouping and Seeding Policy as it relates to a recommendation from the Golf Advisory Committee.

3. The Board heard a report and reviewed an executive summary that encompasses the strategic priorities of the IHSA in the coming years based on the results of January's Strategic Planning sessions.

4. The Board heard a report on the RPI formula that will be used for seeding in Boys Volleyball this spring. The possibility of using an RPI formula, in lieu of coach voting for seeding, has been recommended by several advisory committees in recent years, and the volleyball advisory committee received approval from the IHSA Board in February to utilize MaxPreps' RPI formula for seeding on a trial basis during the 2026 season. Boys volleyball seeding will occur on May 7.

5. The Board held a discussion on third-place games in team-bracketed sports and asked the IHSA staff to gather data from students to gain insight on their experiences.

6. The Board heard a recap on the annual NFHS Legal Meeting that was held in Indianapolis in April.

7. The Board recognized the winners of the 2026 IHSA Student Section & Spirit Showdown, a contest that is facilitated by the IHSA Student Advisory Committee. Monticello High School was named the Class 1A/2A champion, while Lyons Township High School was awarded the Class 3A/4A state title.

8. The Board discussed Scholastic Bowl classification cutoffs based upon feedback that had been sent to the Board.

9. The Board discussed the Coop by-law that was passed by member schools in January and its impact on lacrosse.