What most everyone expected was confirmed late Wednesday by Notre Dame principal George Valadie.
The Fighting Irish will be joining the TSSAA's Division II ranks.
"When the divisions first split, we were Division II," he said. "We had a reason then, and it's pretty much the same reason now. It is part of our mission to be of assistance where we can to those in need."
Notre Dame has offered tuition assistance through work study as part of that mission.
Student population was the first consideration, followed by economic and logistic concerns.
"The reason we left Division II when we did was because there were no local Division II schools in our classification," Valadie said. "We didn't like the idea of our athletes going to Nashville on a Tuesday night and then having three tests the next day. It wasn't fair to them."
It appears Notre Dame will have that local competition with several area schools already having announced their intent to move from Division I. That group includes Boyd-Buchanan, Chattanooga Christian, Grace Academy and Silverdale Baptist.
Last word from the TSSAA was that it planned to begin announcing Friday proposed regions in both divisions.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.