re: How do other states handle Public vs Private in HS football?

Actually, there aren't. Jesuit is now the largest, that was never the case before. Brother Martin is pretty steady at +/- 1,300 students. Holy Cross is growing because of facilities and it's easier to get to than when it was in the Lower 9th Ward, for the western half. But I thought they wanted to keep their enrollment at 250 per grade level, tops.

Anyway, St. Augustine, Archbishop Rummel and Archbishop Shaw are getting dangerously small. Shaw is under 500 students, and Rummel is close to it, as well.

Your other point is valid, hell you can't swing a dead cat from the main entrance of Brother Martin on Elysian Fields without hitting Holy Cross or St. Augustine.