In what the NorthJersey.com website described as "a stunning announcement" late Monday, state Commissioner of Education David Hespe reversed the decisions made by the membership of the NJSIAA earlier this month to separate public and non-public schools in football and on the road to the state tournament in wrestling
NJ.com -- website for a number of New Jersey newspapers, including the Newark Star-Ledger -- opened its article announcing Monday's news: "In one of the most significant decisions ever in New Jersey high school sports, State Commissioner of Education David Hespe ruled Monday to reverse a pair of controversial votes separating public and non-public schools in football and wrestling for the first time in state history."
Under the plan approved by the NJSIAA in early December but reversed Monday by Hespe, there would have been four districts and one separate region for wrestlers at nonpublic schools in the state individual wrestling tournament.
In addition, Hespe asked the NJSIAA to further study the nonpublic/public issue.
NJSIAA member schools voted by a nearly 2-to-1 margin to split non-public wrestling programs into their own district and region tournaments before advancing to Atlantic City for the state tournament, echoing a proposal made by the NJSIAA in 2008 but shot down by a previous commissioner of education in January 2009.
In a letter to the NJSIAA on Monday, Hespe wrote, "It is clear that some NJSIAA member schools are frustrated by the non-competitive nature of playing elite non-public schools, raising both fairness and safety concerns. However, non-public schools have also raised concerns about discrimination, equal athletic opportunity and the ability to develop full schedules without increased burdens to the non-public schools."
Addressing the wrestling proposal, Hespe said that while the proposal is "somewhat different" from the 2008 proposal, it "does not clearly demonstrate an unfair competitive disadvantage for public school participants at the individual State wrestling tournament." He went on to say that even if the proposal was able to demonstrate an unfair advantage, "the submission fails to address how the proposal maintains equal athletic opportunity for non-public school students."
In responding to Hespe's decision, Steve Timko, executive director of the NJSIAA, said, "It was a long-awaited decision. I was anticipating a response like everybody else."
"When we get back from vacation, we'll be taking a close look at his letter to me and starting our strategy from there," Timko added.
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