The Texas legislature recently enacted a law that might limit the ability of a parent to take a complaint about extracurricular activities to the school board. Complaints about such matters are legendary, and frequently focus on cheerleading. But whether the school board hears the complaint or not, the matter can end up in court. And often does.
Perhaps the stereotype of the helicopter parent/cheerleader mom is dated and unfair. All parents care about their kids’ participation in extracurriculars, as they should. But for whatever reason, cheerleader parents, especially the moms, seem to get the brunt of the ridicule.
So I found it interesting that the complaint of a cheerleader dad has now made it to the second highest level of our judicial system—the Circuit Court. The 9th Circuit did not spend much time on it, giving it the back of its hand with a dismissal without even hearing oral argument. The court ordered that its opinion not be published and could not be used as precedent in future cases, except under limited circumstances. Dad had complained that the cheerleaders were held to higher academic standards than the football players; that his daughter was unfairly limited in practice time; and that he was retaliated against due to his advocacy.
Nope. The court held that dad “lacked standing” to make some of these charges stick, and failed to allege adequate facts to establish the others.
Some day the SCOTUS will get to hear a cheerleader case, but it won’t be this one. This one is Davis v. Folsom Cordova USD, decided by the 9th Circuit on January 9, 2017. You can find it at 674 Fed. Appx. 699 and 343 Education Law Reporter 47.
DAWG BONE: TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT….WE JUST LIKE TO LITIGATE!!
That’s it for this week’s Daily Dawg. Enjoy the weekend, and check in on us on Monday.