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From the WIAA -- 

STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control voted to support the first consideration of four separate conference realignment proposals at its September meeting today.

The first consideration of a third conference realignment proposal involving the Coulee, Mississippi Valley and Southwest Wisconsin Conferences received initial approval. The plan moves West Salem from the Coulee to the Mississippi Valley for football only and requires mandatory crossover games between the Coulee and Southwest Wisconsin Conference in weeks three and four of the season beginning in 2014. Failure by any  school in the three conferences to honor the plan will result in its removal from the football playoffs for four years.

An original plan presented, then amended by the Board last April, would have moved West Salem to the Mississippi Valley Conference for all sports. However, the plan was eventually voted down by the Board upon receiving extensive concerns from the Mississippi Valley Conference.

The Board also supported the first consideration of a realignment plan that moves Augusta from the East Division of the Cloverbelt Conference to the Dairyland Conference beginning in the fall of 2014. First approval of a plan to move Hortonville from the Bay Conference to the Fox Valley Association and move Menasha from the FVA to the Bay was also supported. In addition, the first consideration of a plan to move Saint Francis from the Woodland Conference to the Midwest Classic and Wayland Academy from the Midwest Classic to the Trailways Conference was also approved.

Membership rules require a 40-day window for schools involved in realignment plans to appeal the first consideration of the Board before it takes final action. Thus, schools have until Oct. 23, 2013, to file an appeal of the Board’s initial vote. The Board’s final action on the realignment plans will be at a special meeting on Oct. 23.

The Board also received information on numerous association-related issues in reports presented by the Executive Staff and reviewed the reaction and impressions from the Mount Horeb and Greenfield Area Meetings, the first two of seven Area Meetings around the state this fall. 

The Board approved a number of action items on the agenda, including appointments to the 2013-14 cross country, football, soccer, and track and field coaches advisory committees, as well as the editorial changes in the 2013-14 Media Policies Reference Guide.