The biggest fire starts with the smallest spark. And make no mistake about the fact that a big fire is coming.
Dave Kline may just be that spark.
Kline says things publicly that people are talking about privately. His message is about fairness and competitive balance and student-athletes – kids.
And Kline is taking his message to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Kline, a 45-year-old resident of Jonestown and a member of the Northern Lebanon school board for eight years, is on a personal mission to raise attention and change the way the PIAA addresses and governs public and private schools, or boundary and non-boundary schools. It is Kline’s contention, one shared by many across the commonwealth, that the PIAA should conduct playoffs and state championship events separately for public and private schools.
Currently, the PIAA conducts playoff and championship events across classifications in all of its sports, based on the size of their schools’ enrollment, without regard to whether those schools are public or private. Many contend that private schools have a competitive advantage over public schools in some sports because they can attract or even recruit the most gifted student-athletes.
“I think it affects all public schools,” said Kline. “We try to create a culture where you work hard, you grind, and it pays off.”
“This is part of my passion,” he added. “It’s something I always wanted to advocate for. It’s obvious to me. It’s crazy. The boundary (public school) teams get blown out year after year (in some state championship games), and it’s getting worse. When these (public school) teams get blown out and you see the disappointment on their faces, you know it’s not fair. Something has to be done.”
At a PIAA board meeting on July 17, Kline addressed the state’s scholastic sports governing body for three minutes about the public school-vs-private school issue. Kline said he was allotted the three minutes after numerous requests and correspondences with PIAA executive director Robert Lombardi and PIAA board president Frank Majikes, a principal at Wilkes-Barre Career and Technology Center, and after filing a Right-to-Know request.
“I couldn’t speak on everything in three minutes,” said Kline, who also serves as head coach of the Northern Lebanon Midget Football Association. “I think it’s the biggest issue in front of the PIAA. I’m trying to bring this to the forefront. I’m trying to get the PIAA to realize things.”
“No, I’ve never done anything like this before,” he added. “It’s something I believe in. It’s something that everybody thinks.”
In May, Kline and other members of the Northern Lebanon school board passed a resolution in support of a Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ bill designed to reexamine the state’s current scholastic playoff system – House Bill 1983, which was sponsored by state Rep. Russ Diamond among others in the state Legislature – and conveyed that support to their state representative. Kline said that he has reached out to about 150 school boards asking that they take similar action on HB 1983.
Kline said the only other Lebanon County school board to pass a resolution supporting HB 1983 was Annville-Cleona.
“When I found out about this bill, I thought it was a great time to start advocating,” said Kline. “It doesn’t necessarily dictate that the PIAA has to do it, but it gets the ball rolling. When I talked about HB 1983 at the board of directors meeting, I told them I was gaining support, but some of the directors didn’t even know about HB 1983. To me, they should be leading the charge. Now there’s an opportunity to amend the law and it’s crickets. Changing the law is what’s holding them back.”
While some PIAA member schools favor the current playoff system, it is unclear whether a majority do. Kline said that the PIAA’s agenda could be clouded by conflicts of interest. “I think that’s an issue,” he said.
“There are schools that want this current system,” said Kline. “But let’s not talk about interests; let’s talk about it from a fairness perspective. We all shoot from the same line for a foul shot. I question how the PIAA governs itself.
“First and foremost, my goal is to bring awareness to the other school boards, and so far the response has been great. My second goal is to get the PIAA aware of HB 1983. My last goal is to bring awareness about how the PIAA is operating and governing itself. We need to get on the (PIAA board of directors meeting) agenda and have some discussions.”
More than 60 percent of the states in the country have either had discussions about or have adopted a system that separates public and private classifications for the purpose of deciding state scholastic sports championships.
“I know it can be done. I know it’s an option,” said Kline. “I want to surround myself with like-minded people. I feel like this is what the majority of people want, but we’re not complaining to the right people.
“I would say it’s in its infancy, but I’m off to a good start. We need to get on the agenda and see where people stand. Where do the District Three representatives to the PIAA stand on this? It has to start with discussion. Who’s open to some discussion?”
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