Stop Medicaid fraud
March 29, 2016
Faye Pizani
March 30, 2016
With the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s public/private split scheduled to expand and include all major sports in the fall, organizers are attempting to form a rival league that would welcome both public and private schools.
Several schools around the state confirmed to The Times this week that they have received pamphlets in the mail with information regarding the creation of an “athletic cooperative,” which is aiming to start playing in the 2016-17 school year.
The cooperative was organized by Paul Rainwater, former Governor Bobby Jindal’s Chief of Staff. He said he got involved at the urging of several private schools, who sought to explore an alternative to the LHSAA.
The pamphlet being sent to schools says that the new group would compete in football, boys and girls basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball – the sports now included in the LHSAA’s expanded split.
Rainwater said the cooperative’s purpose isn’t to destroy the LHSAA, but instead aims to create a structure where all schools are welcome – something he says the LHSAA has “strayed away from,” in the past few years.
“I’m doing this, because I think it’s the right thing to do,” Rainwater said. “I think the private schools have a lot to offer to our state. … There’s an interest in getting this thing right for student athletes. These kids deserve to have a system that is fair to everyone.”
60 MEMBERS NEEDED OR PLANS WILL BE NIXED
Rainwater’s pamphlet said that the athletic cooperative will not go forward unless it has 60 member schools.
At the LHSAA meetings, more than 100 schools voted against the split expansion, so it’s not inconceivable to assume that there will be enough interest to push the cooperative into existence.
But two potential drawbacks may prohibit the league getting rolling in the future.
The first is money.
To join the new league, schools are being asked to pay one-time membership fee of $15,000 – money that will serve as the financial foundation for which the league will be based.
H.L. Bourgeois Athletic Director and boys’ basketball coach Andrew Caillouet said that his school is 100 percent committed to the LHSAA, and will not be joining any start-up leagues in the future. But he added that even if the Braves did have a desire for change, the money would likely be an issue.
“That’s an amount that’s going to be tough to collect – especially in what are pretty tough economic times,” Caillouet said. “I don’t know how many schools – especially on the public side – will be willing to commit with that amount dangling over their heads.”
Rainwater said the fee can be paid in installments, adding that no one is intended to be left behind because of finances.
The second potential drawback is time – which is not on the cooperative’s side when attempting to organize such a drastic change.
There are a little more than 150 days until the start of the 2016 prep football season, which means that decisions regarding the cooperative have to be made in short order so that schedules can be made and districts can be drawn.
Not wanting to rush into a bad decision, many principals said they are willing to remain part of the LHSAA for one more year so that the cooperative can have more time to develop.
One of those principals is Mike Boyer of Teurlings Catholic, who told The Advocate of Baton Rouge that the 2016-17 start date was “way too fast.”
Rainwater conceded that the 2016-17 start was troubling to some. He added that he’d be willing to roll back the league’s inception date to the 2017 football season if that’s what the majority of schools would want.
“If we decide to push it back, that’s OK,” Rainwater said. “The structure is ready to begin right away, but if we wait, that’s OK with us, too.”
Rainwater said he has volunteered to be the league’s inaugural executive director, but he doesn’t want to have an abundance of power in policing the member schools.
The former Jindal aide said the cooperative’s power structure will mimic the United States Senate in that a 75 percent majority will have to come forward in order for a vote to take place for a major rule change.
“If it’s a problem, we will be made aware of it,” he said.
Rainwater said the group is in negotiations to host all of its state championship matches on the campus of LSU.
“The work, on my end, really is pretty much done,” he said. “It’s up to the schools and the players to decide now if this is the road that they want to go toward. … If the schools decide that they don’t want to accept this structure, I’m fine with that. I just want these conversations to fix the process. Either the Louisiana High School Athletic Association is going to fix its process internally or there’s going to be a split and a new organization.
“People have been upset for quite some time. There’s so much emotion involved in this.”
WHO ARE THE
RINGLEADERS IN THE CAMP OF CHANGE?
A core-group of city-based private schools are the ones most heavily pushing for change.
Riverside Academy has been one of the most outspoken opponents against the LHSAA since the split expansion was voted upon with numerous coaches at the school speaking ill of the changes.
At the LHSAA Top 28 basketball tournament, Rebels boys’ basketball coach and athletic director Timmy Byrd lambasted Louisiana principals for expanding the split, calling the process both “criminal” and “absurd”.
Just minutes after losing the Class 2A State Championship Game to Madison Prep, Byrd’s post-game press conference turned into an anti-split pep rally. He said that telling certain schools that they can’t compete is discrimination, which, he believes, is wrong. He also questioned the competitiveness of the coaches and players who want to be apart from the top teams in Louisiana.
“You want my thoughts? I think it’s a crime,” Byrd said. “I’m glad I’m on the side that is not discriminating and running from the competition. … We don’t live that way.”
But a look at the atlas shows that most of the country does “live that way.” Only 19 states in America have non-separate prep leagues where public and private schools compete against one another without restriction.
John Curtis is another staunch opponent of the LHSAA’s division. J.T. Curtis, the headmaster and head football coach for the Patriots, said at the annual convention in January that the division only hurts the kids.
The Patriots are expected to be one of the members of the new league. The Diocese of Lake Charles also said last week that it would allow Catholic schools under its umbrella to consider a break from the LHSAA. The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux has yet to comment publicly, nor has the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which houses a large piece of the private schools in the state.
“We’ve been too good of an organization for this,” Curtis said. “We should have made an effort to stand by one another and work this out – not split apart and break away.”
A lawmaker located just down the road from John Curtis’ campus agrees. If successful, he will make it illegal for the LHSAA to be divided.
House Bill 863, authored by State Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, states that “public or private schools that receive state funds can’t be part of ‘any interscholastic extracurricular athletic association or organization” that subdivides schools into select admission and non-select admission for athletic playoffs.
In Lehman’s terms, the move would force the LHSAA to reunite, because if it didn’t, member schools would lose state funding.
The bill is alive at press-time after House Education Committee members voted 7-5 last week to send it to the House floor.
Passing it into law will be tough, though, as several lawmakers have gone on record to state that it isn’t the place of politicians to try and strong arm the way the LHSAA is run.
Talbot said that he’s only getting government involved because he feels what the LHSAA principals did is wrong and unfair.
As a River Ridge politician, Talbot also reportedly has close ties to Curtis, who applauded the bill.
“It’s time that we make decisions and do the right thing,” Curtis said.
LOCAL RESPONSE HARD TO COME BY
A lot of local private schools were not willing to comment on the situation – mostly because of a lack of information.
Houma Christian football and baseball coach Chuck Battaglia said he couldn’t comment on the situation, because he wasn’t aware that the new league was being considered.
When explained the details of the league, he said it was the first he’d heard of the situation.
Vandebilt Athletic Director Margaret Johnson said in January just after the LHSAA vote took place that the school would be willing to listen to all of its options, but wouldn’t be quick to commit to anything right away.
She said she believes the split is harmful to private schools who follow the rules and operate their athletic programs the right way – an opinion that seems to be commonly held throughout the state.
On the public school side, locals seem committed to staying with the LHSAA.
Caillouet said definitely that H.L. Bourgeois is staying – a pledge that was also offered by South Lafourche, Terrebonne, Ellender and South Terrebonne.
Other local public schools not listed were not able to be reached at press-time, but will also likely be staying, because they voted in favor of the split.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Caillouet said. “We’re committed to the LHSAA. We won’t even be joining any of these new leagues, unless the LHSAA completely folds and goes away. This is where H.L. Bourgeois is going to be.”
A call to LHSAA Executive Director Eddie Bonine was not returned at press-time. He has not commented publicly on the formation of a new league since the split expansion vote took place in January. •
