Eligible parochial school students who reside in the State College area can participate in public school extracurricular activities, according to the terms of a settlement of a federal lawsuit.
State College Area School District and the Religious Rights Foundation of PA recently agreed to the consent order following mediation in the case, which was filed in 2023. The school board approved the agreement, which still must be approved by a judge, at its meeting on Monday.
RRFP, a Centre County-based religious advocacy organization, and members of the foundation who reside within the district’s boundaries and are parents of two parochial school students filed the lawsuit after the students were denied participation in SCASD extracurriculars. They alleged that the district’s policy of allowing home-schooled and charter-schooled students but not those who attend parochial schools to participate violated the U.S. Constitution’s Free Exercise and Equal Protection clauses.
A judge rejected the district’s request to dismiss the suit in December 2023.
Under the terms of the consent order, the district agrees “to make available to parochial students the same extracurricular and co-curricular activities (including athletics) and educational programs offered to homeschooled students and charter school students.”
The district can impose its general student selection criteria for parochial students in the same manner as other students.
Students who attend parochial schools that sponsor interscholastic athletic sports are not eligible to participate in those same interscholastic athletic sports through the district. If their parochial schools do not offer a particular interscholastic athletic sport, however, the students are eligible to participate in that sport through a SCASD team.
If the PIAA declares a student ineligible to participate in a sport through SCASD because of the student’s enrollment in a parochial school, the RRFP will be responsible for resolving the issue with the PIAA.
Similar to athletics, a student is not eligible to participate in SCASD co-curriculars or clubs if their parochial school offers the same or a substantially similar activity.
SCASD also will pay a “reasonable, agreed upon sum” to the plaintiffs for legal fees and costs.
