An area conference is set to expand in the fall of 2027.

The Shelby County R-IV Board of Education voted Wednesday, Mar. 11 to accept an invitation for the South Shelby Cardinals to join the Lewis and Clark Conference beginning in the 2027-28 school year. In a statement, Supt. Dr Billy Daleske said the decision to leave South Shelby’s longtime home in the Clarence Cannon Conference, “did not come lightly, but it was one that was necessary for the future.” Daleske cited South Shelby’s enrollment trends relative to the rest of the conference that the Cardinals had called home for over a half-century.

South Shelby will bring the Lewis and Clark’s membership to eight schools, joining Salisbury, Scotland County and Westran as schools with 11-man football programs. They are the conference’s first addition since North Shelby in 2024, following the departure of Fayette and Harrisburg for the Central State Eight and Marceline for the Grand River East. Meanwhile, the Clarence Cannon will fall to six schools, as South Shelby will become the third school since 2018 to depart that league.