In a virtual meeting with representatives from schools and media outlets across the state, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s (LHSAA) Executive Director Eddie Bonine reiterated the board’s approach to school sanctions and explained what prompted the shift in the definition of Select schools.

While the LHSAA had previously disclosed the details of school sanctions to the media directly, Bonine said that his office made a change in the past that was designed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved while still maintaining the integrity of the sports.

“In 2018, this office, with the support of my committee, chose not to publicize sanctions that were taken against schools,” he explained. “I felt as though it was an in-house decision but also within the membership with whom I represent as well as protect, that’s if a particular member ship school wanted the media to know what the sanctions were, then the school could communicate that to them. It wasn’t going to come from me.”

According to Bonine, the LHSAA has handed down hundreds of sanctions to schools since he has been the Executive Director.

“It’s not about the fines as much as it’s about adhering to the rules,” he said. “In my tenure here…we’ve had 12 lack of administrative control hearings, 14 sportsmanship hearings which have resulted in revocation of 4 state football championships and 3 state football runner up championships, suspension of 19 coaches for over a year, suspension of 30+ athletes for over a year, and 375 major sanctions taken out of this office. We don’t throw the book at people, but we do follow progression.”

Bonine also commented on the recent passage of SB44, also known as the trans sports bill. The LHSAA has always maintained that the issue should be handled by the legislature and that they would enforce whatever ruling came down to ensure the safety of athletes and the spirit of the sport. Bonine said that the bill won’t change what his office has already been doing.

“It really doesn’t change what we’ve done,” he said. “The passage of this law basically just solidifies what we have been doing and it not only protects youth sports, meaning outside of the LHSAA, but also what we already had in place here.”

The most important discussion came towards the middle of the meeting where Bonine began to explain what had led to the vote redefining what constitutes select schools. In the original LHSAA definition, the LHSAA said, “‘Select’ school shall mean private or public schools that have established academic criteria that is used to determine the admission and/or retention of students.”

The new definition adopted by the committee now defines select schools as any member deemed to be lab schools, magnet schools, schools with magnet components, charter schools, parishes that allow open enrollment at all its public schools and tuition-based schools.

As expected, many traditional public school districts that allow open enrollment were not happy with the new definition.

Bonine said that the numbers between Select and Non-Select have swapped, but that they are still close to equal.

“At the end of the day, we had principals saying that they don’t like the definition and where it came from,” Bonine said. “We went from 198 Select schools or 48% and 207 public schools. Today, it flipped. We’re at 52.1% select and 47.9% non-select. That number is going to continue to change.”

Schools that wish to remain as Non-Select have until June 21 to submit their request and supporting documents to the LHSAA.