The UIL officially released the enrollment submissions along with the conference and division cutoffs for the upcoming 2026-2028 Realingment cycle.
The official districts will be released in Febreuary 2026.
The biggest change in this year’s realignment is the lowering of the cutoff for Class 6A.
With last realignment’s cutoff being at 2,275, this year’s cutoff for Class 6A has been lowered to 2,215.
Because of the lower for the cutoff in Class 6A, the cutoffs for the remaining classifications have also been lowered as well.
San Marcos will remain in Class 6A after submitting an enrollment of 2,333. Last realignment cycle, San Marcos submitted an enrollment of 2,505, 172 students more than the current enrollment figure.
While San Marcos staying in Class 6A wasn’t a complete mystery, what district the Rattlers will play for the next two years is.
The Greater Austin area has seen an increase in the number of schools being bumped up to 6A as well as Greater San Antonio.
Among those schools being bumped up to Class 6A is rival Buda Hays, adding the potential of both the Rattlers and the Hawks being in the same district for the first time since 2021. San Marcos and Hays had previously been a part of the same district in 19981999 and 2002-2003.
In Hays County, four schools will play in Class 6A with San Marcos, Buda Johnson, Buda Hays and Dripping Springs, a first in the County.
With the influx of new 6A schools from both Austin and San Antonio, the direction of where San Marcos could go is up in the air. Even the history of realignment for San Marcos has shown the Rattlers have been consistently being flipped from being in an Austinbased district to a San Antonio district and even a mix of both.
Kyle Lehman will remain in 5A Division I, submitting an enrollment of 2,184 while Wimberley will stay in 4A Division II with an enrollment of 859.
Enrollment and Cutoff Numbers for Hays County 6A (2,215 and above) Buda Johnson (2,976.5) Dripping Springs (2,622) Buda Hays (2,334) San Marcos (2,333) 5A Division I (2,2141,830) Kyle Lehman (2,184.5) 4A Division II (895550) Wimberley (859)
Both the Rattlers and the Lady Rattlers have seen success in the realignment cycle with the highlight being the girls basketball team advancing to the regional final for the first time since 1992. Daily Record photo by Gerald Castillo
