A Baton Rouge judge has affirmed the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s decision to require a local high school to forfeit eight wins during the 2024 football season, leaving University Laboratory School (ULS) without a playoff spot.
Judge Ronald Johnson of the 19th Judicial District Court issued the decision on Nov. 18, agreeing with the association that two of the school’s football players were ineligible to play. The association concluded that the two players, who had transferred to the campus from Liberty Magnet School, were ineligible because certain forms were not completed to finalize the transfers.
The judge’s decision comes in the wake of ULS filing a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the association from enforcing penalties against the high school, which also included one year of probation for the school’s football program, forfeiture of four wins from the 2023 season, $500 in fines and restrictions on the two students’ ability to play in future games.
“The LHSAA’s violation determination and imposition of penalties on ULS in the final week of the football season will cause irreparable harm, injury, loss and damage to ULS, its football team, its students and the entire ULS community,” the school’s Nov. 7 lawsuit states.
The complaint argued that the two student-athletes were in the correct attendance zone for ULS – which it shares with Liberty Magnet School – and that another LHSAA rule bars the association from investigating violations alleged by member schools during the last 10 days of the regular football season. In addition, Liberty Magnet’s complaint against one of the players exceeded the association’s statute of limitations, according to the lawsuit.
The forfeits imposed on ULS left the school with a 0-9 record going into week 10 of the season. One of 410 member schools in the LHSAA, ULS has won three state football championships over the past decade. Prior to the forfeits, the school’s football team had been ranked first in Class 3A as of the end of October, according to the legal complaint.
In a statement released after the court hearing, the association reiterated its position that the LHSAA rules need to be enforced against all member schools.
“The LHSAA is disappointed that the violation occurred and even more disappointed that the violation affected student-athletes in this state,” the statement says. “Nevertheless, the LHSAA is committed to enforcing its rules and carrying out the wishes of the member schools.”
The statement also affirmed that ULS would not be taking part in this season’s postseason football playoff bracket.
“Its opponent scheduled for this week's game will advance to the next round,” the statement says.
In the lawsuit, ULS called the association’s actions “arbitrary and capricious” and that the school was denied due process under that federal and state constitutions. The complaint sought to block the association from limiting the two athletes’ ability to play in games for the remainder of the season and playoff games.
“The LHSAA’s investigation and imposition of penalties on ULS on Nov. 4, 2024, were directly contrary to its own rules, imposed without fair notice as to the alleged violations or any specificity of alleged facts, and in deprivation of fundamental due-process rights guaranteed by the constitutions of Louisiana and the United States,” the lawsuit says.
ULS officials did not respond to requests for comment.