Silverdale Baptist Academy has become the latest Chattanooga-area school to join the voluntary move to the private school division within the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association.
Private schools that had been playing in the nonfinancial-aid division that already had made the move are Chattanooga Christian, Grace Academy and Boyd-Buchanan. Silverdale's move leaves only Notre Dame uncommitted and still debating whether to stay in Division I with the TSSAA's public schools.
"We saw this day coming and have been making preparations toward this next move with a strong athletic department, booster support and an athletic complex that is first-class and debt-free," Silverdale head of school Becky Hansard said.
Silverdale, among the state's smallest schools, had been competing up one enrollment classification because of the state's 1.8 multiplier on private schools playing in Division I.
"We have been looking at the situation and researching and listening while trying to be patient about making the decision and how it would affect the school and our athletic programs," Seahawks athletic director Tim Couch said. "We wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing."
The big question was the school's ability to compete with other private institutions if they were unable to offer financial aid, but Couch made it clear that recruiting of athletes was not among the considerations.
"That was the furthest thing from our minds," he said. "We have a great Christian atmosphere, our academics are high standard and our athletics are growing. To be able to help a kid that might not be able to attend otherwise was part of (the reason for) the decision."
He said there were way too many obstacles for the school to remain in Division I, including a rule that would eliminate pay for volunteer coaches or substitute teachers if their child or children were athletes.
"That was really going to hurt us," Couch said.
While Silverdale has been putting some money aside in case it did join Division II and started providing financial aid, a concerted fundraising effort will now be underway.
"We're looking at ways to finance (the aid program) without affecting current parents (such as raising tuition)," Couch said. "We have a five-point plan that might include fundraising and financial endowments."
A work-study program, used already by other private schools in Chattanooga, might be put into place. It involves parents working a defined number of hours to help pay their child's tuition.
"I know there are teams out there that have been doing that - and it was within the rules - but we didn't have one," Couch said. "We haven't really discussed that so much. The aid we offer is going to be more need-based."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.