All classes will be affected by the redistricting plan, which is tentative until after area meetings are held with principals of schools in North Louisiana, Alexandria, Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Following the last meeting on Nov. 9, Henderson will present a final plan for ratification by the principals.

As NewOrleans.Com reported last week, the major change in the New Orleans area is the merging of Archbishop Rummel, Jesuit and Brother Martin with Chalmette and the Jefferson Parish schools of Bonnabel, Grace King, John Ehret, Higgins and West Jefferson in a league that will be designated District 8-5A for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.

Archbishop Chapelle, Dominican and Mount Carmel will also compete in 8-5A’s girls’ athletic competition.

Grace King Athletic Director Jeryl Fischtziur said that the Metairie school will not compete for district honors in football. King has not qualified for the playoffs since beginning a football program when it became a co-ed school in 1980, the first year the Jefferson Parish district was formed.

The consolidation of the Catholic schools with their parish counterparts was made necessary when Archbishop Shaw and St. Augustine’s enrollments dropped below the Class 5A minimum, which is 1,102 students. Both schools, which joined the 56-year-old “Catholic League” in 1967, have projected enrollments of 1,050. Their actual projected student count is 525, but the LHSAA doubles that number for single-sex schools for classification purposes.

“Having the Catholic schools in our district will only make us better,” said Jefferson Parish School System AD Manny Barocco. “The way things have evolved with the population (following Hurricane Katrina) makes them a good fit. Surprisingly, when we had our pre-district meeting, the comments were that we need to play good programs to help ourselves. And those schools with their large followings will be beneficial to us financially as well.”

Another change in the state’s top class would send Destrehan, East St. John and Hahnville south to compete in a district with H.L. Bourgeois, Central Lafourche, South Lafourche, Terrebonne and Thibodaux in a district designated as 7-5A.

The Northshore district (re-designated as District 6-5A) will not change. It includes Covington, Fontainebleau, Hammond, Mandeville, Northshore, Ponchatoula, Slidell, St. Paul’s and St. Scholastica for most girls’ sports.

The New Orleans area will have three Class 4A districts, the most significant will be District 9-4A where Holy Cross and St. Augustine are scheduled to join Orleans Parish public, charter and Recovery schools Warren Easton, Edna Karr, McDonogh 35, O. Perry Walker and Ben Franklin. Like Grace King’s, the administration of Ben Franklin may choose to play an independent football schedule.

Cabrini and Ursuline Academy will join the district for girls’ athletics.

St. Augustine’s main rival outside the Catholic League has been McDonogh 35, with which it will now share a district if the basic plan is approved. St. Augustine and Warren Easton coaches and players had an altercation at the end of their game this season, but the principals of the two schools quickly took action to quell the situation.

However, St. Augustine Athletic Director Clifford Barthe requested his school be placed in District 7-5A with East Jefferson, Franklinton, Lakeshore, Pearl River, Riverdale and Salmen, stating that St. Augustine competes in certain “minor” sports most of the schools in 9-4A do not.

That reasoning will be difficult to convince Henderson to move the school.

The third area 4-A league brings together Archbishop Shaw, Assumption, Belle Chasse, Helen Cox, Ellender, Morgan City, South Terrebonne Vandebilt Catholic and the Academy of Our Lady, all schools located on the west side of the Mississippi River.

In Class 3A, District 10 will include Cohen, De La Salle, Lusher, which moves up from 2A, John McDonogh, McMain, Reed and the girls’ schools of St. Mary Academy and Xavier Prep.

Lutcher, which also moves from 3A, was placed in a Baton Rouge district with Belaire, Broadmoor, Istrouma, Plaquemine, St. Michael and Tara.

St. James and St. Charles Catholic, which will also move up from Class 2A, is slated to join District 7-5A, which is a far-reaching league of schools from Thibodaux (E.D. White) to North Baton Rouge (Livonia). The district also includes Brusly, Donaldsonville and Port Allen.

St. Charles was able to move up in class by four students St. James made it by one.

The new District 8-2A will retain all the northshore members, Northlake Christian, Pine, Pope John Paul II, Springfield, St. Helena Central and St. Thomas Aquinas and two newcomers, Doyle and French Settlement, which do not compete in football.

The largest district in Louisiana will be 9-2A, a 13-team league that will field nine football teams. They will be Carver and Clark, who move down from Class 3A, and John Curtis, Fisher, Haynes Academy, Thomas Jefferson, Newman, Riverside and South Plaquemine, which is up from Class 1A.

Algiers Technical Academy and Priestly Charter will not compete in football. The girls’ schools of the Academy of the Sacred Heart and McGehee are the other new prospective members.

South Plaquemine’s elevation to 2A status has principals from its former 1A district toasting the turn of events. Since consolidating Boothville-Venice, Buras and Port Sulphur following Hurricane Katrina into South Plaquemine when the school opened in 2006, that school has dominated its unpretentious private school rivals on the football field. It has yet to lose a district game.

The new 1A district, designated as 9-1A, will include Crescent City, Ecole Classique, Lutheran , Country Day, Ridgewood and St. Martin’s with new entry Houma Christian.

“Houma Christian for South Plaquemine? That sounds like a fair trade to me,” said a beaming Ecole Classique Principal and LHSAA Executive Committee member David Federico, speaking for his private school cohorts.

Archbishop Hannan, which relocated to Goodbee in 2006 will have Christian Life, Kentwoopd, Mount Hermon, South Lab and Varnado in its District 6-1A.

Volleyball districts, which operate in divisions rather than classes, have changed as well.

Archbishop Chapelle, Dominican and Mount Carmel are tentatively placed in District 6-I with Bonnabel, Chalmette and West Jefferson.

Two other Jefferson Parish schools which field volleyball teams – John Ehret and West Jefferson – are ticketed for District 5-I with H.L. Bourgeois, Central Lafourche , Terrebonne and Thibodaux.

District 4-I will continue to include Covington, Fontainebleau, Mandeville, Northshore, Ponchatoula and Slidell.

Three Division II districts are in the area: 5-II, which includes Hammond, Pearl River, Salmen and St. Scholastica; District 7-II with the Academy of Our Lady, Belle Chasse, Helen Cox, Edna Karr and O. Perry Walker; and 7-II, which will include Cabrini, East Jefferson, Warren Easton, Grace King, McDonogh 35 and Riverdale.

Haynes Academy moves up from Division IV into 8-III and is scheduled to join Ben Franklin, Lusher, John McDonogh, McMain, Reed, Ursuline Academy and Xavier Prep. Ursuline is the defending Division III state champion.

There are three Division IV districts I the area: District 4-IV has John Curtis, Donaldsonville, Riverside Academy, St. Charles Catholic and St. James penned in; District 5-IV has Carver, Clark, Cohen, Northlake Christian, Pope John Paul II, Priestly Charter and St. Mary’s Academy, and 6-IV includes the Academy of the Sacred Heart, De La Salle, Fisher,  Thomas Jefferson, McGehee and Newman.

And three more districts are scheduled for the New Orleans area.

Archbishop Hannan, Bishop McManus, Ecole Classique and First Baptist are scheduled to be placed in District 6-V; Lutheran. Country Day, Ridgewood and St. Martin’s in 7-V and Crescent City, Holy Rosary, South Plaquemines and Patrick Taylor in 9-V. Holy Rosary is a Class C co-ed school with just 74 students projected.

“I don’t expect to see any major changes to the proposed reclassification plan,” Henderson said following the Wednesday meeting that lasted less than three hours. “There might be one school here or there, but there should be no redrawing of districts.”

He said that for every counter proposal made my attending principals, others were in agreement of his committee’s reclassification plan. Henderson said the plan was based on travel considerations of schools with like enrollments.

“We put a team together that included the LHSAA’s Compliance team that knew every school and road in Louisiana,” He said.

Based on a division of the total number of LHSAA member schools (389) into seven classes, the class sizes are as follows: 5A – 2,355 (Lafayette) to 1,102 (Parkway); 4A – Assumption (1,090 to 647 (St. Louis); 3A – 642 (Glen Oaks to 419 (St. James) and 2A –418 (Academy of the Sacred Heart) to 241 (Delcambre).

Because Class 1A is the lowest football class, schools that may have Class B or C enrollments but choose to field football teams for championship honors, are included. The largest school in that class is Opelousas Catholic with 238. At the bottom are Crescent City (85) and Lutheran (75), which would otherwise be considered Class C schools.