LHSAA Split Legislation clears House Committee

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A bill in the Louisiana Legislature targeting an end to split playoff competitions in the LHSAA will reach the House floor.

House Bill 863 passed through a committee vote Wednesday in Baton Rouge by a 7-5 voting margin. The current regular legislative session lasts through June 6.

Rep. Kirk Talbot, a Republican from Jefferson Parish, proposed the bill to prohibit any public school in the state or non-public school which receive state funding from participating in split playoff formats: A public school or nonpublic school approved by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that receives state funds shall not be a member of any interscholastic extracurricular athletic association or organization that subdivides schools into select admission and non-select admission schools for athletic playoff competitions.

In the committee meeting, Talbot contended that the notion he wants the bill to pass in order to destroy the LHSAA in inaccurate. He says his goal is to save the state’s governing body after several of its internal votes over the past three years have resulted in split postseason brackets in football, basketball, baseball and softball.

“We see the train coming. It’s going to split all sports,” said Country Day athletic director Mike McGuire.

Other speakers at the meeting from private schools included John Curtis headmaster J.T. Curtis and Jesuit President Anthony McGinn, S.J. Rep. Gene Reynolds, a Democrat from Webster Parish, argued that the LHSAA should handle its own disputes. Rep. Patricia Smith, a Democrat from Baton Rouge, stated that association members have the option to file lawsuits if they believe they are the targets of discrimination.

Principals of all member schools in the LHSAA vote on proposals at the annual convention normally held in late January each year. In 2013, a vote passed splitting the football postseason for select and non-select schools. Another proposal at the 2016 convention passed to split the playoffs for boys and girls basketball as well as baseball and softball.

As a result of the splits, at least one movement to have a separate organization from the LHSAA has gone public. The proposed Louisiana High School Sports Cooperative offers membership to at least 60 schools, both public and private. The LHSAA has nearly 350 member schools.

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