St. Al, along with fellow Catholic schools Cathedral and Greenville-St. Joseph ended a nearly 90-year affiliation to join the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools immediately.

The decision was a difficult one, but one that needed to be done in the best interest of students.

“There is a sadness on our part, because we’ve been there forever. We leave with no bitterness or rancor. I understand why (the MHSAA) did what they did. But we did it with the idea that we have to give every student an opportunity,” St. Al principal Buddy Strickland said. “We had to do what we had to do.”

The switch was made in the wake of last week’s ruling by the MHSAA to ban out-of-state students from all sanctioned sports and activities. That ruling would have left many students who have been part of the student body at St. Al since they were 3 years old out in the cold. They would have not been allowed to participate in any school activities, not just athletics. St. Al has 14 such students — 12 of whom have been enrolled in the school since kindergarten — while Greenville-St. Joe has about 50 and Cathedral has 78.

The Catholic schools held town hall meetings over the past week to come up with recommendations on a course of action. Strickland said the options included a lawsuit the schools were unlikely to win, staying the course and alienating a number of families within the school, or moving to the MAIS.

“I think there was a clear consensus among our stakeholders familiar with the law, that we could not litigate this and win,” Strickland said. “There was a realization on the part of our stakeholders about where was the best option for a level playing field and an opportunity for every child on the field.”

Giving the best opportunity to every student was the right thing to do and one we stand behind 100 percent.