For nearly half a century, Louisiana Revised Statute 51:224 has sat quietly on the books. Enacted in 1979 to govern the commercial use of school logos, it remained unused for good reason: enforcing it at the high school level causes ill feeling, dampens community support, and is a bad idea.
Now, Monroe City Schools superintendent Sam Moore, III, is dusting off this law, allowing high schools to enforce licensing agreements on alumni, local organizations, and vendors. But the district’s policy lacks a uniform fee schedule, leaving it up to individual principals to pick and choose who pays and who does not.
This arbitrary approach inevitably leads to conflict. Consider local vendor Clarence Bradford, a longtime booster who estimates he donated $1,500 in gear to Carroll High School teams last year. Despite his history of support, Bradford found himself in a public standoff with school leadership over shifting vending fees and trade arrangements. When dedicated community supporters are forced to haggle over unwritten rules, trust breaks down.
Will this policy lead to more public confrontations between school principals and vendors, like the one between Bradford and Carroll Principal Dr. Cassandra Shelling?
The policy also creates a glaring double standard. Major retailers like Walmart, CVS, and Dick’s Sporting Goods routinely sell high school merchandise without facing this local crackdown. In fact, many in the community would be insulted if Monroe Schools were omitted while stores carried merchandise from parish and private schools.
Despite these concerns, small vendors and neighborhood support groups are expected to sign up and pay or be sued by the school.
Is the district truly prepared to sue alumni groups, ma and pa vendors, clubs, or national retail chains over t-shirt logos? Coffee cups and shakers?
Absolutely not.
Because the district is not going to take legal action against support groups or corporate giants, the policy becomes virtually unenforceable—serving only to alienate the very people who pour their time and money into local students.
Public schools thrive on goodwill.
Taxing local school pride and placing arbitrary barriers on community support sends the wrong message.
Monroe City Schools should leave this 1979 law on the shelf where it belongs.
