The LHSAA reaffirmed Wednesday its expanded split proposal, which will divide baseball, softball and basketball into 12 separate playoff brackets per sport.

A vote taken Wednesday at a special LHSAA meeting in Baton Rouge ended with a 56.5 percent majority to uphold the current plan. The split will go into effect in the upcoming 2016-17 basketball, baseball and softball seasons. Football state championships were divided into nine different playoff brackets in 2013.

The Crown Plaza in Baton Rouge was packed with 306 principals and designated proxies in attendance. Wednesday’s meeting heard four alternative proposals, all making an effort to unify the playoff brackets in some way. The current playoff format offers five non-select championships and four select championships.

A school’s select or non-select status is determined by the percentage of the school’s population drawn from outside of the school’s designated attendance zone. For a school to be classified as select, at least 25 percent of its students must come from outside the institution’s attendance zone.

A contingent of public school principals holds the stance that the split divisions will level the playing field for high school athletics.

“The principals voted in January on the split, because to me, the split is fair to public schools,” Ferriday High School principal Joyce Russ said. “I think our voice was heard today by holding firm to what we voted for in January.”

Vidalia, Monterey and Ferriday high schools are non-select schools. Delta Charter School is also a non-select school, and principal Buddy Givens said neither he nor a proxy attended Wednesday’s meeting. Principals at Ferriday, Monterey and Vidalia said they voted to sustain the split between select and non-select programs.

History of select, non-select

In January 2013, principals of LHSAA schools voted to divide the football playoff brackets into select and non-select divisions. This created nine state championships in the sport.

In the years leading up to the vote, John Curtis Christian School and Evangel Christian Academy, two private schools in Louisiana, had combined to win the previous six football state championships in the 2A bracket. In 2006, Evangel was classified as 1A school. John Curtis and Evangel won back-to-back state championships in their respective 2A and 1A playoffs in 2005 and 2006.

In 2013, the first year of the split, nine state champions were crowned in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. In that season, four schools won a football state championship that had never previously won a state championship or had not won in the past 30 or more years. John Curtis won its third consecutive title in the new select Division II.

This classification split had not affected any other varsity sport until a January 2016 meeting in which Many High School principal Norman Booker called for seven non-select divisions and five select divisions in baseball, softball and basketball. The vote passed by a 182-120 vote.

A vote by the LHSAA executive committee called for school representatives to reconvene to vote on proposals or amend the current plan on June 8.

What was voted on?

Four alternative proposals were presented at Wednesday’s meeting.

Mandeville principal Bruce Bundy proposed a plan that would rejoin select and non-select schools, and also multiply the population of select schools by 1.5 to determine its classification. This proposal received 11.4 percent of the vote.

Ruston principal Ricky Durrett proposed a reunification with a 1.5 select-population multiplier, but also added a 6A class for the state’s largest school and schools willing to play up in a higher classification. Durrett’s proposal received 10.7 percent of the total vote.

Iowa principal Mike Oakley presented, on behalf of himself and Vinton principal Mitch Manuel, a plan that called for downsizing the number of classifications. There would have been nine championship games, five non select to four select, across all sports which would have played seven championship games, four non-select and three select. The plan received 3.2 percent of the vote.

The fourth proposal, arranged by the School Relations Committee, combined the association’s two largest classes, 5A and 4A, and the two smallest classes, Class B and Class C, and divided 3A, 2A and 1A into metro and rural classifications. The School Relations Committee proposal received 17.3 percent.

Each author of each proposal stepped up to a microphone and presented their plans followed by questions from principals and their proxies. Ultimately, the reaffirmation took a short speech from Booker, calling for schools to “stand strong” regarding the 12-bracket split. Booker said before he saw the packed parking lot outside the Crown Plaza, he was uncertain whether his plan would pass again.

“Nearly three-fourths of our principals showed up, and this was a good representation of our schools,” Booker said.

One percent of schools did not vote.

What’s next?

The call for a special meeting and re-vote may indicate it has been difficult to get a uniform response on a concrete plan, even within the LHSAA.

After traveling to Baton Rouge from around the state to arrive at the same conclusion as the committee did in January might be taking the long way around, but coaches said the LHSAA’s indecision is a bad look.

“The way they’re dragging this out does not shine a good light on Louisiana high school athletics,” Vidalia head football coach Jeff Hancock said. “I would be surprised if a public school voted against the split; it gives them a chance to compete.”

Monterey principal Ralph Simmons said there may never be a fool-proof system to prevent “recruiting” and offer a level playing field in modern athletics.

“We’ve evolved to the point past when the LHSAA was formed almost 100 years ago,” Simmons said. “Recruiting wasn’t happening then like it is now.”

For Vidalia interim principal Jana Lincecum, the special meeting was her second LHSAA meeting she has attended as the decision maker at the school. Lincecum said Vidalia coaches keep her informed with what is developing in the association with regards to schisms and splits within the association.

“There seemed to be some dissention … a couple of verbal slams,” Lincecum said. “Only time will tell if we made the wisest choice.”

Booker, author of the current adopted reclassification plan, said his intent is not to tear the association apart by trying to “create an even playing field.” Russ said that it may be best for Louisiana to follow the suit of Mississippi, which has two high school athletic associations, depending on the repercussions from a split.

“I don’t understand why Loisiana can’t (have two associations),” Russ said. “(LHSAA) tries to hold over our heads that sponsors will pull out and there won’t be enough venues for all the championships.”