I think that many public school fans and school administrators are knee-jerk in favor of separation, without really having thought things through.
Be careful what you wish for.
IF the decision is to separate, who is included in that separation? Privates and non-boundaried publics? If so, what if one party or the other doesn't like or want that?
If the non-boundaried publics don't go along with it, then what? Is the IHSA really going to force public schools like Payton, Simeon, and Young to compete in a championship division composed primarily of private schools? I always felt like the public school dominated IHSA treated their non-boundaried public school brethren like pawns with its multipliers, success factors, etc. so the IHSA could make it look like it wasn't being biased against faith-based schools. If the IHSA takes non-boundaried publics back in the fold and separates out the private schools, then what are the optics of that? If that happens, how does the IHSA defend their decision to treat non-boundaried public schools like the private schools in the first place?
If private schools don't go along with it, and they reveal the NIPL just for themselves to play with, what about the non-boundaried public schools? Are they still separated out? Do they get welcomed back in with all the other publics? If the former, that's even more ridiculous than including them in the first place along with the privates. If the latter, doesn't that call into question why the non-boundaried schools needed to be lumped in with the private schools in the first place? Not a good look for the IHSA in either case.
Let's assume for a moment that both privates and non-publics get separated and they both go along with it and both decide to remain in the IHSA. In that scenario, what happens to the multiplier and success factor and God knows whatever other discriminatory rules that the whiners called for to water down private school competitiveness vis-a-vis public schools? Do those continue? If so, that's ridiculous. There was some world-class public school whining that took place to enact those rules! Now that those whiners got their way with separation, there is no reason to hold back the private school competitiveness any longer. RIGHT?
I raised this point recently in a different thread, but what happens if private schools stay in the IHSA in a separate championship division? Are non-con games between public and private schools allowed? More to the point, do they COUNT in terms of playoff qualification and seeding?
Lastly, I think the general assumption among public schools and their fans is that private schools would be content to stay in the IHSA and separated into their own class either with them alone or with non-boundaried public schools. Honestly, I would like to think that private schools would show some backbone in a case like that and tell the IHSA to go pound sand where the sun doesn't shine. Why would the private schools want to stay in an athletic association governed and effectively run by public schools and compete for private school championships only? Might as well just start their own athletic association at that point and be free from the path of least resistance and scapegoat seeking whiners who would rather legislate their way to titles than to work harder for them. Yes, I said work harder. It CAN be done!
I SO wish that private schools would just pull out the NIPL and be done with it. Be done with all those discriminatory rules and generate a better product than the IHSA that panders to the whiners and the least common denominator.