SCASD asks judge to dismiss lawsuit over allowing private, home school students to participate in ex
Centre Co., PA (WJAC) — There's a difference between private schools and parochial schools in Pennsylvania and the State College School District is citing that difference as a major factor in asking that a federal lawsuit against the district be dismissed.
In July, two sets of parents joined the Religious Rights Foundation of Pennsylvania in a federal suit against the State College School District, claiming the district unfairly discriminates against home school and parochial students, specifically in not allowing them to participate in school district extracurricular activities.
The parents have children who attend parochial schools in the district, and they filed suit, claiming the district is violating the students’ religious rights by not allowing them to participate in activities.
The district says they responded initially to the parents, in May, with an email that said, "we cannot grant your request to change our long-standing practice of not having private school students participate in our PIAA sports teams. If we allow private school students to take part, we could be taking away opportunities for our State College Area School District students.”
But when the federal suit was filed, the district says those filing suit inexplicably changed the word "private" from the district email to the word ‘parochial’ in their complaint.
The district goes on to claim that the plaintiffs made unfounded allegations about district policies and alleged discrimination.
The school district is asking a federal judge to dismiss the suit.
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