MOULTRIE – The way the Georgia High School Association has placed its 478 schools into classifications is likely to create changes in the current makeup of Region 1-7A.

Colquitt County and Lowndes are almost certain to remain in the region, Valdosta is expected to rejoin, Tift County somewhat surprisingly will likely leave and Camden County’s future could be up in the air.

Class 7A, pending appeals that will be heard on Wednesday, Nov. 13, has 51 schools in its 2022-2023 projections.

The current members of Class 7A are divided into eight regions.

Since 2016, Region 1-7A has had just four teams.

With the status of Tift County, Camden County and Richmond Hill, another 7A school, in question, it is hard to predict what the region will look like over the next two cycles.

“It’s still early in the process,” Colquitt County athletic director Darrell Funderburk said. “We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.”

After appeals by schools to move up or down in classification, the GHSA will put the schools in regions.

The preliminary list of regions could come in December.

Lowndes, with a full-time equivalent plus out-of-zone enrollment multiplier reclassification count of 3,295, is the seventh-largest in the state.

Colquitt County, at 2,578, is one of the smaller schools in the highest classification.

Tift County appears to be headed out of the state’s largest classification for the first time since 1965-1966.

One of the smallest schools in the largest classification in recent years, Tift, with a reclassification count of 2,445, will be among the largest in Class 6A.

Reports are that Tift will not opt to play up in Class 7A.

Camden County’s reclassification number of 2,584 is just six more than Colquitt County’s.

Camden’s placement in Region 1 has long been problematic because of the long distance between Kingsland and the other teams in the region.

Valdosta, which has been in Class 6A since 2016, is at 2,504 and is expected to be placed in Region 1.

Richmond Hill, whose reclassification count is 2,514,is fourth-smallest in Class 7A.

The school has numbers that would have placed it in 7A during the last reclassification, but appealed on “isolation,”  because of no other similarly sized schools in its area, and was included in 6A.

Richmond Hill, which is located just south of Savannah and is more than 200 miles from Moultrie, ultimately could end up in Region 1.

Both Richmond Hill and Camden County, located some 150 miles from Colquitt County, could use the “isolation” appeal this year.

But without Tift County, Camden County and Richmond Hill, Region 1 would have just three members: Colquitt County, Lowndes and Valdosta, an unlikely scenario.

Also joining Tift County in moving from Class 7A to 6A are Milton, Roswell and Newnan.

Among those moving up to 7A are Carrollton and Buford.

Both are city schools that saw their reclassification count grow because of a new out-of-zone multiplier approved by the GHSA this year.

The multiplier is aimed at schools that have a higher percentage of out-of-zone students than county schools.

Carrollton is listed as having an FTE/enrollment number of 1,715, including 535 out-of-zone students.

Buford is listed as having and FTE/enrollment number of 1,784, including 360 out-of-zone.

The Wolves have won state football championships in 12 of the past 20 seasons in lower classifications.

The multiplier was also aimed at private schools, which appeared to have had a competitive advantage in recent years.

The nine private schools in classes 5A to 2A won 42 of 87 available state titles in 2020-2021.

The multiplier ruling vaulted St. Pius and Woodward Academy to Class 7A.

St. Pius has 1,060 considered out-of-zone; Woodward Academy, 1020.