Vermont Christian school appeals sports ban

A Christian school in Vermont is asking the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals to allow its students to participate in a state sports league after officials banned the school due to its religious beliefs on sexuality.

Mid Vermont Christian School, a pre-K-12 school in Quechee, Vt., upholds a Biblical and biological definition of gender. During a February 2023 tournament, the school’s girls basketball team refused to play a game against a team with a male player who identified as female. School officials believed that playing the game forced the school and students to affirm something that violated their religious convictions.

In response, Vermont’s state athletic organization, the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA), blocked the school from participating in all sports in the league. The VPA is composed of at least 270 public and private middle and high schools across the state, according to the lawsuit, which noted that Mid Vermont had been a member for 28 years.

Before the tournament, the school asked officials to not allow the male athlete to play if the two schools competed against each other. School leaders cited safety concerns about a boy playing against girls in a contact sport.

The VPA denied that request, according to the school’s brief. Officials then punished Mid Vermont for its forfeit, despite the association having previously allowed other schools to forfeit games for other reasons, such as injury, sickness, or refusing to play against an athlete with a COVID-19 mask exemption.

“The VPA cannot wield such unbridled discretion,” Mid Vermont’s opening brief said. “They excluded an otherwise eligible religious school from a public benefit solely because of its religious exercise.”

The VPA said the school violated VPA gender identity and “gender-fair” policies. According to the opening brief, Jay Nichols, executive director of the VPA, called Mid Vermont’s decision to forfeit “blatant discrimination under the guise of religious freedom.” The VPA refuses to allow the Christian school back in unless it agrees to allow its girls’ teams to compete against other girls’ teams with male players.

In November 2023, the school sued the VPA in a district court, alleging the VPA’s actions impeded constitutionally protected religious and free speech rights. The VPA’s discrimination also led to the school being excluded from the state’s tuition program and dual enrollment programs, which allows students to take a small number of state college courses for free.

The school asked the court to temporarily allow it to participate in the sports association while this lawsuit is pending. The district court denied its request in June, claiming that Mid Vermont “had choices” and didn’t have to forfeit in the first place.

Mid Vermont appealed that decision and, on Aug. 30, it filed its opening brief in the case.

The school’s decision to forfeit is protected by First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, explained Ryan Tucker, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the school. Both the school and parents have a right to adhere to their religious views while participating in a state-run program, he said.

“Mid Vermont shouldn’t have to change its religious beliefs and policies in order to compete in middle school and high school athletics,” Tucker said. “The state of Vermont is trying to purge schools and people from the public square because they don’t agree with the government on a controversial issue.”

The appeal still has several steps to go through before Mid Vermont will know if it will be allowed to temporarily participate in the sports league, Tucker said. He anticipates that the district court’s final ruling in the underlying case will likely occur after the appeals court settles this question.

In the meantime, Mid Vermont has joined the New England Association of Christian Schools athletic organization, which is spread across five states. Now students travel on average twice as far to away games, increasing travel expenses and forcing athletes to miss more school, according to the brief.

Other Christian schools are also experiencing religious discrimination across the state and country.

In 2022, Vermont officials agreed to apply a state tuition benefit program fairly to families who send their children to faith-based schools. The settlement came on the heels of a ruling from the 2nd Circuit that found officials had violated constitutional rights.

A federal court in Maine upheld a state law that prohibits religious schools from receiving state tuition assistance in February, keeping some families from accessing a benefit that others have. Maine legislators manipulated the law to go around a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Carson v. Makin that sided with religious schools. Last Tuesday, a religious school in Maine asked the 1st U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse the district court’s decision.

Mid Vermont’s case is one of the first of its kind, Tucker noted. He is unaware of any other state athletics associations that have banned schools from participating due to religious convictions.

A ruling in Mid Vermont’s case could have broad-reaching implications on religious schools nationwide, Tucker said.

“The idea that a state-sponsored sports league can kick a religious school like Mid Vermont out ... is ludicrous,” Tucker said. “Religious schools across the United States are in harm’s way.”