LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CN) - The Kentucky High School Athletic Association unfairly bars private-school students from sports teams if more than 25 percent of their tuition comes from financial aid, parents claim in state court.
Richard and Nancy Evans say the KHSAA discriminates against their freshman daughter, keeping her from competing in volleyball and track and field at Louisville's Presentation Academy because she received a merit-based scholarship from the private Catholic school.
The KHSAA adopted the regulations to prevent private schools from gaining an unfair advantage over public schools by recruiting students solely for athletics, the parents say.
But they say the private school did not recruit their daughter to play sports, but for her "excellent academic performance." They say it's unfair that other students who have not "excelled academically but whose parents can afford the tuition ... (are) eligible to participate in athletic competition."
They seek an injunction for their daughter and other similarly situated students, in Jefferson County Court. Their attorney, Teddy Gordon, successfully challenged the Jefferson County school system's desegregation plan before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007.
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