Lafayette Parish Superintendent Burnell Lemoine told The Independent Weekly last week that he was "very concerned" about Lafayette High Principal Patrick Leonard and head basketball coach Clifton Brown's decision to let Josh Wiltz play in two games after his arrest for illegal possession of a handgun and possession of marijuana. It was Lemoine who stepped in and told LHS officials that such arrests are specifically addressed in the school district's policy, directing them to suspend the starting senior for the rest of the season, which kept Wiltz out of the Top 28 tournament and the Lions' victorious title game.
On Friday, Lemoine told The Independent that he planned to call a meeting of all parish principals to discuss the matter and devise a plan or policy for how these types of incidents will be dealt with in the future, including how to immediately ascertain records from law enforcement officials. “I want students to be treated the same,” said Lemoine, who also indicated potential consequences for LHS' Leonard and Brown. “I’m not sure what their interpretation [of the policy] was,” Lemoine said. “I’ll have to deal with that in my own way.”
Lemoine could not be reached for comment this morning on the status of that meeting with the school district's principals. Read more about the controversial story in this week's issue.