Three Auburn high schools appear entrenched in the 3A classification.

But that does not mean they will be there when the 2016-17 school year begins.

Rob Swaim, athletic director for the Auburn School District, said his schools could remain in 3A or “opt up” to 4A.

“There’s pros and cons with each,” Swaim said. “It would be nice for proximity purposes to be back with our Kent schools. We’ve been late to a few of our contests because of traffic. It’s brutal.”

Swaim, who expects to have more clarity on the issue when the South Puget Sound League athletic directors meet Jan. 5, said some of the uncertainty relates to the tenuous future of the Narrows League. The (Peninsula) Gateway first reported Dec. 10 that Gig Harbor likely would reclassify and join rival Peninsula in SPSL 3A. That change alone would not affect the composition of the eight-team league because Sumner is expected to move to 4A.

But the five Tacoma Public Schools, which, along with Bellarmine Prep and South Kitsap, are charter members of the Narrows from 1979, could be mulling a move to the SPSL, according to Swaim. Tacoma Public Schools athletic director Sam Reed could not be reached for comment.

“Everyone in the West Central District are waiting for someone else to make a move,” Swaim said. “The rumors are just ridiculous right now.”

If the Tacoma Public Schools and Gig Harbor join the SPSL, the Narrows would have a maximum of 10 teams between its 3A and 4A divisions. In 2011, South Kitsap athletic director Ed Santos said six members in the 4A Narrows was too small to remain a viable league. That supplied the impetus for South Kitsap and four others – Bellarmine Prep, Central Kitsap, Gig Harbor and Olympia – to seek admission to the SPSL. The league’s 4A division stabilized at the time when Yelm moved from 3A.

Swaim said he hopes to learn those Narrows schools’ plan before ASD officials decide which classification they want to belong to. All three Auburn high schools have competed together in SPSL 3A since 2014 and Swaim said a top priority is to keep those programs in the same league.

“We’ve really enjoyed being together,” he said. “It’s nice that we’re all together now. We want to all stay together.”

The next consideration, Swaim said, is to minimize instructional time lost through travel and transportation expenses.

Schools with the top 16 to 17 percent enrollment are recognized as 4A. But the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s preliminary number could fluctuate if smaller schools elect to play in a larger classification. In that case, Swaim said one of the smaller SPSL 3A schools, such as Bonney Lake or Enumclaw, could move down to 2A when the WIAA certifies its numbers. Swaim said Bonney Lake (971.72) had the smallest enrollment based on the latest figures he had seen, while Enumclaw (974.75) was second from the bottom.

Those numbers, he said, are based on the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s freshman through junior enrollment count during the 2014-15 school year and this year’s numbers for students in 10th through 12th grade from Oct. 1 to Dec. 1. But Swaim cautioned some schools have appealed those numbers with the hope that they can avoid a move to a larger classification.

Based on the latest count, Swaim said Auburn (1,202.75) was the largest high school in the district, followed by Auburn Riverside (1,179.16) and Auburn Mountainview (1,095.09).