Bill 267 author explains his motives

    Louisiana House of Representatives member Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville, is the author of HB 267. He explained his proposed bill spawned by the LHSAA’s decision to hold separate playoffs for public and non-public schools:
    The first thing I did when I read LHSAA Proposal 18 was take football out of the equation. Why just football? I would have reacted the same way if it were any sport, curricular or non-curricular activity involving Louisiana students. We must remember this is not about schools or athletic teams, this is our children. What kind of message is this sending to the next and future generation of citizens and leaders of our state? Separate is never equal; one will always be perceived as superior, thus, the other, inferior. Call it what you want, but this proposition is segregation.
    The next thing is the reasoning behind the bill. It is no secret that members of the LHSAA have tried to separate the private, faith-based schools before, and this appears to do the same. They just added charter and magnet schools to deter possible lawsuits. So, the premise of this proposition is to divide by zoned/no-zone criteria, which I would not argue if that were the sole and actual case. But to say a zoned (non-select) school can get up to 25 percent of its students from outside its particular zone is not really a zone. As legislators, we know what zones are. Our districts are firmly divided with no exceptions. The same goes for Congressional districts, police jury districts, school board districts and hunting zones. Zones have clear-cut boundaries, and any other equation is simply not acceptable.
    Years ago, the LHSAA assigned zones to private schools. My alma mater, Vermilion Catholic, has been assigned the same zone as Abbeville High School. Using this criteria, VC, a private school, should qualify as a non-select school, being that far less than 25 percent (actually 5 percent) of their students come from outside of its LHSAA-assigned zone. Many other private schools in the state would also meet this threshold. So not to allow these schools to compete with the non-select schools in the playoffs is discrimination. I do agree that the Legislature has no place in the day-to-day operations and decisions made by the LHSAA, but when its current leadership allows unelected individuals voting to segregate or discriminate against students, we should and will step in.