Reclass: Big questions to be answered

    We have waited two years for Nov. 7, 2012, to come around – the occasion on which LHSAA Executive Director Kenny Henderson will reveal the makeup of the seven classes of schools for the next two school years.
    This will be the most important reclassification meeting of the decade because it will be the first since 2005 that schools will be allowed to play up one class.
    It could also signal the rebirth of the New Orleans Catholic League as principals from three of its former members – St. Augustine, Holy Cross and Archbishop Shaw – have declared their intentions to move up from Class 4A to 5A with hopes that Henderson will reunite their schools with Jesuit, Brother Martin and Archbishop Rummel to have a true Catholic League for the first time since 2004.
    It will also depend on what other schools in the New Orleans area choose to do. And believe me, the questions and speculation in advance of the meeting are running rampant.
    For instance…
    ➤ Some principals and coaches in the local prep community believe that neither St. Aug, Holy Cross nor Shaw will actually have the future enrollment projection to remain in Class 4A to be able to move up to 5A, in spite of their assurances that they do.
    If that’s the case, will they choose to remain in Class 3A or move up to Class 4A?
    Then, what happens to Jesuit, Brother Martin and Rummel? And what if Chalmette no longer wants to be part of a district with Catholic schools?
    Because there are no Class 5A public schools in the city proper, will Henderson then have to combine 5A Catholic schools in Orleans Parish with Jefferson Parish public schools to form two Class 5A districts?
    ➤ Another burning question that schools throughout the state are eager to know: Will John Curtis have the enrollment to move to Class 3A, or, if not, volunteer to play up?
    What a mad scramble that will cause among the principals in those two classes.
    Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].