2026-2027 UIL Realignment

[TexasStrangers]

On 7/21/2025 at 9:15 PM, stillInAustin said:

In area D, Austin High may drop from 6A to 5A.  After the last realignment they were the smallest Austin-area school in 6A, and Austin ISD is shrinking.

Austin ISD also has a significant transfer program, so it may come down to how folks transfer within the district this year.

 

Transfers are another big factor. There are some school districts that are for transfers and there are some that are on a case by case situation and there are some that don't allow it for fear it might cause them go up a Classification and they will have a hard time competing in a higher class. 

Also, I am starting to see some schools districts adopt rules to allow home school students to play UIL activities in their district. I think that's just hoping up a huge bottle of worms but that is just me. 

[dullbanddad]

Leander ISD redistricted a year ago and it resulted in less kids at Vista. It's a real possibility they move down to 5A. If they stay 6A it will be a very small 6A. This shift also changed the number of students going to Cedar Park and Vandy. Not sure where the numbers will shake out for those 3 schools

[Tubalord11]

12 hours ago, dullbanddad said:

Leander ISD redistricted a year ago and it resulted in less kids at Vista. It's a real possibility they move down to 5A. If they stay 6A it will be a very small 6A. This shift also changed the number of students going to Cedar Park and Vandy. Not sure where the numbers will shake out for those 3 schools

If Vista drops, things will get really spicy 

[SharksAreCool]

4 minutes ago, Tubalord11 said:

If Vista drops, things will get really spicy 

I don’t think anyone would be ready for that.

[dfwhorn]

2 hours ago, Tubalord11 said:

If Vista drops, things will get really spicy 

Vista in 5A would be a sight to see. They are one of the best in 6A and it would be interesting to see them in the 5A level as well.

[dullbanddad]

18 hours ago, dfwhorn said:

Vista in 5A would be a sight to see. They are one of the best in 6A and it would be interesting to see them in the 5A level as well.

Think about Rouse, Cedar Park, Leander and Vista all in the same area.

[dfwhorn]

6 hours ago, dullbanddad said:

Think about Rouse, Cedar Park, Leander and Vista all in the same area.

It'd be just like a 5A version of the Area J

[BandNerd07]

On 7/25/2025 at 8:46 PM, dfwhorn said:

It'd be just like a 5A version of the Area J

Actually, LISD readjusted attendance boundaries last school year to respond to growth at Leander, rouse and Glenn as well as a decline at cedar park, vandy and vista. Based on what they’re projecting for the upcoming school year, it’s looking like all 6 will be in 6A. If this happens, westlake and LT can basically say goodbye to making state beyond 2025 as LISD sweeping this area is pretty much a given and not all of them would even make it (Glenn). There seriously needs to be some major region and area rezoning if this actually happens

[TrenBS]

1 hour ago, BandNerd07 said:

Actually, LISD readjusted attendance boundaries last school year to respond to growth at Leander, rouse and Glenn as well as a decline at cedar park, vandy and vista. Based on what they’re projecting for the upcoming school year, it’s looking like all 6 will be in 6A. If this happens, westlake and LT can basically say goodbye to making state beyond 2025 as LISD sweeping this area is pretty much a given and not all of them would even make it (Glenn). There seriously needs to be some major region and area rezoning if this actually happens

If this is the case which I totally could see that, area is probably going to be realigned pretty heavily I imagine, I dont see the overall benefit of representing multiple districts by having 1 dominate areas, although I dont know how they would address this with J and H unless they changed the amount of area bands needed to add state slots (from 5 to 1, to 4 to 1 or something)

Some of the areas are becoming extremely district dominated, so I doubt UIL does nothing about it since theyve actually been pretty open to making changes as of late

[dullbanddad]

12 hours ago, BandNerd07 said:

Actually, LISD readjusted attendance boundaries last school year to respond to growth at Leander, rouse and Glenn as well as a decline at cedar park, vandy and vista. Based on what they’re projecting for the upcoming school year, it’s looking like all 6 will be in 6A. If this happens, westlake and LT can basically say goodbye to making state beyond 2025 as LISD sweeping this area is pretty much a given and not all of them would even make it (Glenn). There seriously needs to be some major region and area rezoning if this actually happens

How do they measure attendance?  Is it the current enrollment (counting this year's senior/2026 class) or is it future enrollment where the senior class in this case would be 2027?  The reason being the 2028, 2029, and 2030 classes are the ones impacted across Vandy, Cedar Park and Vista while 2026 and 2027 were mostly not impacted due to grandfathering kids into their old schools.

[bandlifer]

4 hours ago, dullbanddad said:

How do they measure attendance?  Is it the current enrollment (counting this year's senior/2026 class) or is it future enrollment where the senior class in this case would be 2027?  The reason being the 2028, 2029, and 2030 classes are the ones impacted across Vandy, Cedar Park and Vista while 2026 and 2027 were mostly not impacted due to grandfathering kids into their old schools.

From what I understand UIL takes a snapshot of attendance in the fall and uses that number to determine placement.  Placement is for 2 years I believe.  So, if I am correct, attendance this fall would impact alignment for 2026-2028.  Those with more expertise, please feel free to correct any issues with my limited understanding

[TexasStrangers]

16 minutes ago, bandlifer said:

From what I understand UIL takes a snapshot of attendance in the fall and uses that number to determine placement.  Placement is for 2 years I believe.  So, if I am correct, attendance this fall would impact alignment for 2026-2028.  Those with more expertise, please feel free to correct any issues with my limited understanding

Yes, each year school districts will submit their attendance figures (snapshot) for PEIMS and UIL on the last Friday in October I believe. UIL Realignment takes place every 2 yrs. This is the 2nd yr of the current realignment. So, schools will submit their numbers in October this year and then UIL will come out in the spring and announce the cutoff numbers for each classification. Based on those figures schools will then either go up or go down based on those numbers (high school enrollment) and then UIL will create the districts for the fall sports and then later towards the end of the year UIL will create the districts for Spring Sports. As far as band goes I do not know if UIL or another agency changes bands Regions/Areas based on them moving up, staying where they are or moving down. 

Based on what I am seeing and hearing there may be some schools that will be moving up next year (26-27) but if there are too many that could move up then UIL will raise the cutoffs. If there are several that end up dropping then UIL will lower the cutoffs to try and keep it as balanced as possible. Which is the reason you don't see numerous schools moving up or moving down. You see more schools changing districts every 2 yrs then moving up or down. 

[Tubalord11]

20 hours ago, BandNerd07 said:

Actually, LISD readjusted attendance boundaries last school year to respond to growth at Leander, rouse and Glenn as well as a decline at cedar park, vandy and vista. Based on what they’re projecting for the upcoming school year, it’s looking like all 6 will be in 6A. If this happens, westlake and LT can basically say goodbye to making state beyond 2025 as LISD sweeping this area is pretty much a given and not all of them would even make it (Glenn). There seriously needs to be some major region and area rezoning if this actually happens

This would be insane 💀

I’d say vista and Vandy will continue to be 1 &2, as for the other 3 it would depend on who’s the strongest each season. And I feel like Westlake could possibly slip in every now and then, especially if it gets big enough for them to take 5 to state.

[SharksAreCool]

21 hours ago, BandNerd07 said:

Actually, LISD readjusted attendance boundaries last school year to respond to growth at Leander, rouse and Glenn as well as a decline at cedar park, vandy and vista. Based on what they’re projecting for the upcoming school year, it’s looking like all 6 will be in 6A. If this happens, westlake and LT can basically say goodbye to making state beyond 2025 as LISD sweeping this area is pretty much a given and not all of them would even make it (Glenn). There seriously needs to be some major region and area rezoning if this actually happens

Alright. I’ve seen enough, everyone be looking out for Area K.

[Gpk1968]

I just saw that both Celina and Community ISD are starting the 25-26 school years with around 1k additional students compared to the year before. Wow. 

[dfwhorn]

1 hour ago, GarbagePatchKid said:

I just saw that both Celina and Community ISD are starting the 25-26 school years with around 1k additional students compared to the year before. Wow. 

Celina was expected a bit, but community is crazy to see. Must be all the Josephine and Lavon growth.

[imarchedcrown]

Rockhill to 5a??

[Thatonedoublereed14]

6 hours ago, imarchedcrown said:

Rockhill to 5a??

Very well could be possible. From what I know, they are one of the smallest 6a schools population-wise in the state, and if UIL decides to move the threshold for 6a up, that could happen. Of course, Rock Hill, being in Prosper ISD, is still growing because of how fast growth is in Prosper so we'll have to wait and see

[hebronglazerisnotright23]

If they get moved down they could very well make state on their first year!!

[bassboneman]

Wait, wasn't UIL talking about adding a rule with state finalists that they would not take up a state spot at area or something? 

[ruben_f]

53 minutes ago, bassboneman said:

Wait, wasn't UIL talking about adding a rule with state finalists that they would not take up a state spot at area or something? 

this one?

 

Recommendation: No Action

Proposal for every area contest to advance an additional band for each competing state medalist band from the prior year

Recommendation: Rejected

Proposal to award medals to all state finalist band members

[bassboneman]

4 hours ago, ruben_f said:

this one?

 

Recommendation: No Action

Proposal for every area contest to advance an additional band for each competing state medalist band from the prior year

Recommendation: Rejected

Proposal to award medals to all state finalist band members

Yeah... that one.

[TrenBS]

On 9/24/2025 at 8:14 AM, ruben_f said:

this one?

 

Recommendation: No Action

Proposal for every area contest to advance an additional band for each competing state medalist band from the prior year

Recommendation: Rejected

Proposal to award medals to all state finalist band members

No action doesnt mean its dead, but lets be honest, if this rule even GETS back to the point of possible implementation its probably going to be closer to 2028-2029.

I think some of the district dominance needs to be addressed (6A areas H and J) but I really dont know any realistic solution that comfortably addresses a district steamrolling an area without directly discriminating against a band/district for being good. For 6A, the only logical proposal that would even have a chance of being passes would be to lower the amount of area qualifiers to equate a state qualifier from 5 to 4.
 

For area H it would add another slot to be competitive against Brandeis, Steele, and W. H. Taft, for J it would open up a slot for the Wylies, McKinneys, and Braswell to compete for, and even area B would add another slot for KCent and Bell to directly compete for. The obvious issue is with state marching scheduling, and is the reason Id assume they wouldnt pass this proposal (its like 5 extra spots, and 6A SMBC already runs long with 40 bands).

[Samuel Culper]

The big problem with lowering the ratio below 1 per 5 is that the 6A contest becomes impossible to run in two days given that 4A and 2A are also happening in the same 3-day window. 40+ bands is already plenty to have at State. 

And looking at Area H in particular, I put together this post last year on what happens if you try to help those San Antonio bands being shut out by the Austin area schools:

 

 

[BumboJumbo]

I’ve heard talks of Mesquite H.S. moving down from 6A to 5A next year.

Meaning they would most likely compete against West Mesquite, North Mesquite, and Poteet next year!