Lawmakers on the special legislative subcommittee on the Louisiana High School Athletic Association asked whether the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education or the State Department of Education has a role in high school athletics and pressed LHSAA leaders and superintendents to clarify transfer and eligibility procedures.

Why it matters: transfer rules determine when student athletes may compete after changing schools; they affect recruitment, school enrollment choices and competitive balance across parishes.

Kevin Birkin, identified to the committee as a BESE member, told lawmakers that "the policy, from BESE, as I know it understand it, does not include LHSAA sports," and he said he was unaware of any current BESE policy that governs the LHSAA. He said he would look into the questions and suggested the committee request a department staff presence at a future meeting.

David Claxton, executive director‑elect of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, told the committee superintendents are represented on the LHSAA and that many parishes have a superintendent or designated representative on LHSAA advisory panels. Principals vote at the LHSAA convention; Claxton said superintendents and principals usually meet locally to discuss positions before votes.

Superintendents and principals told lawmakers the initial responsibility for discipline and eligibility investigations sits with local schools — the principal and district — and that the LHSAA enforces association rules and conducts separate investigations as needed. "Anything that breaks a school policy or a school rule, we enforce," David Claxton said, adding that when an incident also breaks an LHSAA rule, "LHSAA will step in, investigate, and do that part." Principal Tommy Byler and others described a shared process: school discipline first, then LHSAA action where association rules apply.

Lawmakers focused at length on a still‑pending proposal — sometimes discussed as a "one‑time transfer" rule — that would allow a student to change schools once and retain varsity eligibility under specified conditions. Superintendents and principals said opinions vary by parish and district. Several principals and superintendents asked that any such change be developed by LHSAA membership and its committees, and that the association keep principals and superintendents informed in advance of votes.

Committee members closed by asking LHSAA and education leaders to continue the dialogue and to provide clearer written guidance on the role of local school policies, the LHSAA handbook, and state law when eligibility is contested. The subcommittee scheduled follow-up meetings and asked for BESE and department staff to attend.