Vermont Christian school wins appeal while fighting sports ban

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled Tuesday to end the Vermont Principals’ Association’s two-year ban on Mid Vermont Christian School’s participation in state-sponsored sporting events. The state expelled the school’s high school girls’ basketball team for forfeiting a 2023 game against a team with a male on the roster.

The school cited religious conviction in its initial court filing, along with concerns over safety and fairness during the game. The state sport association violated players’ First Amendment rights to religious practice when it expelled the team, the Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF, argued on behalf of the school.

A federal judge initially rejected the school’s religious discrimination argument in a June 2024 ruling, noting the state’s rulebook clearly allowed males identifying as females to play on women’s teams. The association’s rules were applied equally and did not unfairly target Mid Vermont for their religious convictions, U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford ruled. However, the federal appeals court cited the merit in Mid Vermont’s religious argument. The school was likely to succeed in establishing that state officials acted with hostility toward the team’s religious beliefs, according to the Tuesday order.

What happens now? The appellate decision overturned Crawford’s initial ruling and sent the case back to the lower courts for another ruling. The latest ruling will also let the school participate in state-sponsored sports while litigation continues. The government can’t punish religious schools just for disagreeing with their religious beliefs, according to ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman.

It remains unclear whether the school will be allowed to continue to forfeit games against males. As of writing, the association’s 2025-2026 policies contained provisions for nonbinary and transgender students to play on teams that conflict with their sex. WORLD reached out to the association for more details on how its policies will be applied to Mid Vermont after the court-ordered reentry, but did not receive a response as of Tuesday evening. WORLD also reached out to the defendant’s attorneys for comment on the ruling and as of Tuesday evening, had not received a response. Attorney Pietro Lynn, representing various school districts involved in the civil case, declined to comment.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on Mid Vermont’s attorneys arguing before the appeals court last fall for more case background.