More than one athletic director has wondered aloud in the past about which schools are considered exclusion schools and how does one achieve that status.

MIAA Assistant Director Phil Napolitano sought to put an end to any such questions at Wednesday’s Board of Directors Meeting. He laid out a plan whereby schools would have to apply to obtain such status then have to explain to the Board why they are worthy.

“The purpose of the exclusion schools at the start was to help other schools find games, but there didn’t seem to be an original process of how they got it,” said Napolitano, whose proposal was unanimously accepted. “We just want to create a process for schools who want to be exclusion schools and allow the Board to decide if there is just cause. There are currently 23 exclusion schools, but five of the Greater Boston League schools will no longer be exclusionary in July so there would only be 18.

“Because many schools have already done their schedules for the 2024-2025 school year, this would not impact anyone until July 1, 2025. Every two years, schools would have to reapply.”

The Board also ruled unanimously to do away with exemption games starting in July of 2025. The original purpose of endowment games was to generate dollars towards the endowment funds, which can be used by MIAA member schools for educational purposes. Those contests would not count towards a team’s final record.

There is a growing belief that schools have been using the exemption games for reasons other than previously mentioned. Some committee members claimed schools have resorted to this if they’ve scheduled too many games during the season.

Just five endowment games were contested in the fall, 25 in the winter and currently seven are scheduled in the spring.