| February 6,2014 - Class sizes are determined by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA).
Classes are determined by the number of students in the school. The official NYS BEDS (Basic Educational Data System) numbers are used as the official count. The majority of sports are governed by a single set of "cut off " numbers. Lacrosse along with football, volleyball and Cross Country are governed by a different set. Starting in the 2014 season the numbers were changed to the following
For the 2014 season the cutoffs for Lacrosse are as follows:
| Class A |
1000 & up (was 1050 and up) |
| Class B |
590-999 (was 650 to 1049) |
| Class C |
Under 590 (was under 650) |
Moving on up
Procedures exist to allow schools in a smaller class to move up to a larger class. in the summer of 2005 the Section Five Executive Committee adopted a new policy that generally requires teams to announce their intention to move by July 1st (for spring sports).
Combined Teams
School teams can petition through the Section to combine with other schools when they can demonstrate the need. For example, Pittsford has, for many years, combined students from Mendon and Sutherland for one district team. Whereas Sutherland and Mendon are individually Class B teams, as a combined team they are classified a Class A team.
A new procedure, established in 2014, states that if a combined school team proceeds to the NYS tournament their classification is recomputed as follows:
"The school(s) with the higher(est) classification number will have a percentage of the other school(s)classification number added according to the graduated scale below. The percentage is dependent upon the association’s “5 sport classification cut off numbers.”
| Class AA |
50% |
| Class A |
40% |
| Class B |
30% |
| Class C |
30% |
| Class D |
20% |
In 2014, four teams would be subject to this new procedure. The Greece Thunder (Ath/Ody), the Greece Lightning (Arc/Oly) and Bloomfield-Honeoye would see no change as they are Class C teams and would remain Class C teams under the procedure. Pittsford (Mendon and Sutherland), however, would change from a Class A school to a Class B school. Pittsford, has requested to be allowed to "Move up" should they win the Class A Sectional Championship.
Single Gender Schools
Schools that serve only one gender (like McQuaid) have their student BEDS numbers doubled in order to determine their Class position.
| 
