Three families and a religious rights organization filed a civil rights lawsuit this week that seeks to force the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to change a policy they say excludes parochial school students from participating in public school sports.
As reported by the Centre Daily Times, the Centre County-based Religious Rights Foundation of PA joined the families in alleging the PIAA’s policy violates the First Amendment’s free exercise and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clauses. The families allege in the suit filed Tuesday that the PIAA discriminates against parochial school students by prohibiting them from participating in public school sports if those sports aren’t available at their religious schools.
Three families and a religious rights organization filed a civil rights lawsuit this week that seeks to force the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to change a policy they say excludes parochial school students from participating in public school sports.
As reported by the Centre Daily Times, the Centre County-based Religious Rights Foundation of PA joined the families in alleging the PIAA’s policy violates the First Amendment’s free exercise and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clauses. The families allege in the suit filed Tuesday that the PIAA discriminates against parochial school students by prohibiting them from participating in public school sports if those sports aren’t available at their religious schools.
According to Bret Pallotto of the Times, students are typically only eligible at the school where they are enrolled. However, plaintiffs allege that the PIAA makes exceptions for students at charter, cyber or private schools, but not those at parochial schools.Â
Per Pallotto's reporting, a settlement with the State College Area School District reached last month allowed eligible parochial school students to participate in certain extracurricular activities.
"Under the agreement, students who attend parochial schools that sponsor interscholastic athletic sports are not eligible to participate in those same sports through the district," Pallotto wrote. "If those schools do not offer a particular sport, parochial school students are eligible to participate through SCASD."
The lawsuit against the PIAA aims for a broader, statewide policy change, Palloto reported.
“The Constitution is clear; Pennsylvania families do not have to choose between a faith-based education or their child’s educational and athletic opportunities,” attorney Tom Breth said in a written statement, as reported by the Times. “The PIAA must make this right. Until then, we will continue to fight for these students and their families to ensure they have the same opportunities as every student in the Commonwealth, regardless of their educational choice and religious affiliation.
“The PIAA is a state actor and must abide by the Commonwealth’s laws and respect the constitutional rights of Pennsylvanians. That means allowing parochial school students the opportunity to participate in sports offered at their home school district when the sports are not offered at the student’s parochial school. “Educational experiences, be it in the classroom or on the field, are integral to the development of young students, and those opportunities cannot be denied to students based solely on their families’ faith-based educational choice.”
