By Malcolm Butler and Kyle Roberts
The votes are in, and the 2023-24 Louisiana high school playoff picture will look identical to last season.
Sixty-eight percent of schools elected to define “select” in the same manner as last season, meaning schools can expect the same postseason groupings that were defined in June 2022.
All five Lincoln Parish schools voted “yes” for continuation of the definition.
Lincoln Parish School Board superintendent Ricky Durrett spoke to the pre-talks that schools in the parish held prior to the vote.
“We all talked (Ruston, Simsboro, Choudrant) before they went down and discussed what would be best for the overall LHSAA statewide,” said Durrett, who specified that Lincoln Prep and Cedar Creek don’t fall under the parish school system’s purview. “I thought it would be a pretty resounding vote.
“I think there are some people that are upset with the process to get to this point, but I do believe everyone in the state would agree the product, the playoff system, was the best and fairest that we have had in years. I think most would agree if we are going to stay split, this is the fairest to everyone involved.”
Ruston High School principal Dan Gressett was pleased with the results of the vote.
“I think the situation that we’re in now is better than what it was,” Gressett said. “I’m not saying it’s perfect, but the way that the playoffs and the divisions are set up now is better than what we were doing for years and years.”
Lincoln Preparatory School Executive Director Gordan Ford was another voting yes on the proposal.
“I was a yes vote,” Ford said. “In fact, I went to the microphone and asked the other principals to vote yes. All of my votes are what’s best for the LHSAA — what’s best for the kids overall.
“While I really don’t think that public charter schools should be included with select schools — the definition that we have now and the playoff structure that we have now still works better for the association. And a no vote would have taken us back to a playoff structure that we know doesn’t work. While the structure we have now is not perfect, it’s better than what we had and we can work with it moving forward to try and make it better.”
Cedar Creek football coach William Parkerson also reported voting yes to the definition.
“We voted ‘yes’ for the betterment of the association,” Parkerson said. “It may not totally be the best for us, but we think it’s best for the association. It makes all the sports playoffs more competitive. It distributes the teams more equally. If we aren’t going to all go back together, then to us it’s the best compromise.”
The specific definition of select schools that was voted upon is as follows:
- Select shall mean private or public schools that have a state or parish approved designation as a lab school, magnet school(s) with one or more magnet component(s), approved charter schools, parish wide approved open enrollment, state recovery district (RSD) application-based parish schools, tuition based schools and/or any established academic and/or retention-days based criterion schools.
Tuesday’s vote was necessary following a lawsuit filed by nine schools, including Neville, that challenged the June 2022 definition. According to Geauxpreps.com, a judge in August granted a temporary injunction in favor of the schools.
A full breakdown of the terms of the vote is included below.
