RichlandsAlum

In my opinion, no.  But the VHSL certainly seems to cave easily under any threat of legal action -- and logic doesn't appear to have a high priority for that organization's governing body.  

This seems like as good a time as any for me to share this opinion....
Districts should be comprised entirely of schools within the same classification.  With no exceptions.  Or there simply shouldn't be any districts at all.

It's possible that the numbers aren't entirely accurate (total enrollment as opposed to what VHSL uses for ADM) but that definitely is a statistically significant drop.  And it is present in all three Bedford County schools.
More perplexing is the fact that the school age population of Bedford County (defined roughly as ages 5-17) has steadily increased according to the US Census Bureau for the last 20 years.  Even before the impact of Covid approximately 10-20% of kids were not attending the public schools.  

It's all good man.  No offense to Liberty, but huge difference in them and LCA, and big difference in LCA and 95% plus percent of every other Class 2 and 3 teams, so me calling them LCA needed a correction.  I had no idea until you pointed it out.
Appomattox is fast, but one concern on them.  They are not terribly big.  Average size to very slightly undersized on the LOS, but great technique.  The QB for Appo is going to be a High School Superstar.  Smooth and cool as the other side of the pillow.

Just busting your chops, friend.  It's probably hard (if not impossible) to tell from NFHS.
I probably shouldn't say too much about LHS, as my own son decided to pass on football this year.

I think the term "caved" is a definite understatement.  VHSL apparently didn't put up any kind of a fight at all.  LCA basically runs its athletic program with absolute impunity -- to the extent that the VHSL simply accepts enrollment numbers reported by LCA without even questioning them.  And that's just one example.
I know very little about the legal counsel employed by the VHSL in that situation, but I wouldn't be shocked to find out that the lead attorney was actually named Ben Dover.
As much as I would love to see somebody (anybody) challenge both the VHSL and LCA over this state of affairs, I don't know of any entity that would have the standing to do so.

OK, I stand corrected on the results of the 2021 Division 3 championship game.  FWIW I generally lose interest in the postseason once Liberty (Bedford) is eliminated from contention -- and lately that's been an accomplished fact around mid season.  On another aside... the change in classification for Phoebus is another interesting case in point.
Back to the realignment discussion...  If LCA wants to continue to "play up" at the Division 3 level then I don't think there's any doubt at all that VHSL will approve that appeal.  My opinion (which isn't informed by inside information on that specific question) is that they will not appeal the reclassification because they will have a significant competitive advantage at Division 2.  It's definitely possible that poster ehcwasp may have some insight into the LCA operation that the rest of us don't -- and I will certainly be happy to be wrong in this case.
In case anyone cares, I'm hearing all kinds of conflicting information about Liberty (Bedford) -- which isn't surprising because our athletic department is completely screwed up right now.  One varsity coach advised me that we are in fact staying in the Seminole District and his view was that we would petition to "play up" to Division 3.  Another assistant coach in another sport told me that we would be dropping to Division 2 and joining the Dogwood District.  I do note that "Liberty - Bed" is highlighted in the published alignment plan for some reason.  Time will tell....

Liberty (Bedford) and LCA expect to benefit greatly from the move to Division 2.  In football, the matchup between LCA and Appomattox will be interesting and probably have great bearing on state title implications.  Liberty (Bedford) expects to be very competitive in soccer (both boys and girls), softball, and wrestling --although staying in the Seminole could impact seeding for Minutemen teams at the regional level.
And yeah.... a lot of y'all back home will now experience the joy that is dealing directly with LCA.

I think both LCA and Liberty (Bedford) are planning to remain in the Seminole District -- likely for the reasons mentioned above.  But I don't see either school contesting their classification reassignment.  The folks at LCA really like winning, they don't mind doing whatever is necessary to make that happen, and they don't seem to have any qualms about that whatsoever.  They are pretty proud of their Division 3 football championship -- and are probably planning to build a brand new facility to contain all the Division 2 trophies that they will expect to win at that level.

I think the term "caved" is a definite understatement.  VHSL apparently didn't put up any kind of a fight at all.  LCA basically runs its athletic program with absolute impunity -- to the extent that the VHSL simply accepts enrollment numbers reported by LCA without even questioning them.  And that's just one example.
I know very little about the legal counsel employed by the VHSL in that situation, but I wouldn't be shocked to find out that the lead attorney was actually named Ben Dover.
As much as I would love to see somebody (anybody) challenge both the VHSL and LCA over this state of affairs, I don't know of any entity that would have the standing to do so.

I think the term "caved" is a definite understatement.  VHSL apparently didn't put up any kind of a fight at all.  LCA basically runs its athletic program with absolute impunity -- to the extent that the VHSL simply accepts enrollment numbers reported by LCA without even questioning them.  And that's just one example.
I know very little about the legal counsel employed by the VHSL in that situation, but I wouldn't be shocked to find out that the lead attorney was actually named Ben Dover.
As much as I would love to see somebody (anybody) challenge both the VHSL and LCA over this state of affairs, I don't know of any entity that would have the standing to do so.

This isn’t intended to be inflammatory. The revised ADM figures do not include the senior class of any school. Riverheads new ADM is 357 yet the previous ADM (including the senior class) was 443. It’s a mathematical improbability for the freshman to junior classes to average 119 students while the senior class has just 86. So, their senior classes are routinely 30% smaller than the remaining grade levels?
These statistical improbabilities are why suspicions have grown over the years concerning Riverheads. Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire!
 

Liberty (Bedford) and LCA expect to benefit greatly from the move to Division 2.  In football, the matchup between LCA and Appomattox will be interesting and probably have great bearing on state title implications.  Liberty (Bedford) expects to be very competitive in soccer (both boys and girls), softball, and wrestling --although staying in the Seminole could impact seeding for Minutemen teams at the regional level.
And yeah.... a lot of y'all back home will now experience the joy that is dealing directly with LCA.

My second born son was just named to the varsity soccer team at Liberty-Bedford.  Pretty sure he is the only freshman that was taken.  They had good numbers at tryouts and it's a very deep pool in terms of talent.
All three of my boys are pretty gifted physically.  But #2 is the best athlete among them by far.  He also wrestles (won three event medals in his first year) and played pretty much every down on the JV football team this spring season.
Kid has also suffered mightily this past year due to the various shutdowns.  So this good news is certainly welcome and I just can't help but crow about it.

Blue was a secondary/trim color used by Marion in the late'70s/early '80s.  Pretty sure those great basketball teams led by Clarence Hanley played in uniforms that had some royal blue accent stripes.
Fun fact...  In the early 1980s football coach Sonny Hagy had his team change from scarlet jerseys to blue between pregame warmups and the actual kickoff.  Not sure of the reason why and I don't remember the specific opponent, but I do know that happened.

Yerrick and I went through AIT together at Fort Jackson. We were in the same unit post training for a few years. I got out in 2000. He deferred a few years to be able to be an assistant coach at Oak Hill from 96-07 before resuming his military career. He served a tour in Iraq sometime around 2009. 

Jack started the program at North Carolina Wesleyan and had them in the Division III playoffs within five seasons (where they became the first #8 seed to knock off a #1) and he maintained some pretty impressive recruiting contacts throughout his extensive collegiate coaching career.
I'm all kinds of biased because the Ginns have been longtime friends of my family, but he is a first rate individual who should have a tremendously positive impact on Marion's program.

Jack started the program at North Carolina Wesleyan and had them in the Division III playoffs within five seasons (where they became the first #8 seed to knock off a #1) and he maintained some pretty impressive recruiting contacts throughout his extensive collegiate coaching career.
I'm all kinds of biased because the Ginns have been longtime friends of my family, but he is a first rate individual who should have a tremendously positive impact on Marion's program.

Jack started the program at North Carolina Wesleyan and had them in the Division III playoffs within five seasons (where they became the first #8 seed to knock off a #1) and he maintained some pretty impressive recruiting contacts throughout his extensive collegiate coaching career.
I'm all kinds of biased because the Ginns have been longtime friends of my family, but he is a first rate individual who should have a tremendously positive impact on Marion's program.

Jack started the program at North Carolina Wesleyan and had them in the Division III playoffs within five seasons (where they became the first #8 seed to knock off a #1) and he maintained some pretty impressive recruiting contacts throughout his extensive collegiate coaching career.
I'm all kinds of biased because the Ginns have been longtime friends of my family, but he is a first rate individual who should have a tremendously positive impact on Marion's program.

That's a brilliant hire by the folks in Smyth County.  

That's a brilliant hire by the folks in Smyth County.  

Another fun fact related to the Richlands-Harrisonburg series from the 1960s....  As recently as about ten years ago the game ball from Harrisonburg's 20-18 victory over Richlands in 1967 was still displayed in the primary trophy case of Harrisonburg High School.  I have no idea why that particular game is so significant to the folks up in the valley but it jumped out at me when I saw it.

When the SWD broke up in 1986 there was something of a scramble to fill non-district schedules again and Richlands wound up scheduling home and home series against a couple of Roanoke area schools (Northside and Lord Botetourt).  There were some raised eyebrows but I don't remember a lot of outright complaining about it.  Several families (including mine) made something of a getaway out of the trip for the Northside game -- which coincided with Labor Day weekend.
A lot of Liberty-Bedford teams schedule a geographic outlier as part of their non-district schedule.  But then again Bedford is pretty centrally located and you can hit a lot of interesting options within a 2-3 hour drive of here.
Probably not much benefit to Richlands to venture very broadly now unless they absolutely had to.  But that has been the case at various times in the school's football playing history.

They played Halifax in 1968 and 1969.  The previous two years they played Harrisonburg.
The Southwest District played at the highest level of competition within Virginia from its inception in 1956 until the classification overhaul by the VHSL in 1970.  Eligibility for postseason honors had a requirement of playing a certain number of other schools at the Division 1 level (I think that was what it was called).  Since that number was beyond the membership of the SWD, a lot of SWD schools scheduled regular series against the Roanoke schools and E.C. Glass for most of the 1960s.  In the later portion of that decade there was usually a playoff between the SWD and the Western District (centered in the Roanoke area) that was also included.  That created something of a scramble to find the minimum number of opponents to meet the postseason eligibility requirement which led to some odd intersectional matchups in the final years of the old classification system.