Reid v. Kenowa Hills Public Schools

• Decision Date: 26 May 2004
• Docket Number: Docket No. 239473.
• Citation: 680 N.W.2d 62,261 Mich. App. 17
• Parties: Stephen REID and Debbie Reid, Next Friends of Stephen Reid and Justin Reid, Minors, Kim Bird and Patricia Bird, Next Friends of Corey Bird, Wesley Bird, and Adam Bird, Minors, Todd Gould and Tara Gould, Next Friends of Grant Gould and Jenna Gould, Minors, Brian Hija and Tammy Hija, Next Friends of Breanne Hija and Rebecca Hija, Minors, John Donnelly and Mary Ellen Donnelly, Next Friends of Rosemarie Donnelly, Minor, Troy Parsell and Anne Parsell, Next Friends of Amber Parsell, Minor, and James Tolbert and Denise Tolbert, Next Friends of Kristina Tolbert and Joshua Tolbert, Minors, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. KENOWA HILLS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Ypsilanti Public School District, Caro Community Schools, and Michigan High School Athletic Association, Defendants-Appellees. and Grandville Public School District, Tuscola Intermediate School District, and Pinckney Community Schools, Defendants, and Michigan Association of School Boards, Amicus Curiae.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

680 N.W.2d 62

261 Mich. App. 17

Stephen REID and Debbie Reid, Next Friends of Stephen Reid and Justin Reid, Minors, Kim Bird and Patricia Bird, Next Friends of Corey Bird, Wesley Bird, and Adam Bird, Minors, Todd Gould and Tara Gould, Next Friends of Grant Gould and Jenna Gould, Minors, Brian Hija and Tammy Hija, Next Friends of Breanne Hija and Rebecca Hija, Minors, John Donnelly and Mary Ellen Donnelly, Next Friends of Rosemarie Donnelly, Minor, Troy Parsell and Anne Parsell, Next Friends of Amber Parsell, Minor, and James Tolbert and Denise Tolbert, Next Friends of Kristina Tolbert and Joshua Tolbert, Minors, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. KENOWA HILLS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Ypsilanti Public School District, Caro Community Schools, and Michigan High School Athletic Association, Defendants-Appellees. and Grandville Public School District, Tuscola Intermediate School District, and Pinckney Community Schools, Defendants,

and

Michigan Association of School Boards, Amicus Curiae.

Docket No. 239473.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted September 4, 2003, at Lansing.

Decided March 2, 2004, at 9:05 a.m.

Released for Publication May 26, 2004.

Thomas More Law Center (by Richard Thompson and Patrick T. Gillen), Ann Arbor, for the plaintiffs.

Thrun, Maatsch and Nordberg, P.C. (by Lisa L. Swem), Lansing, for Kenowa Hills Public Schools, Ypsilanti Public School District, and Caro Community Schools.

Edmund J. Sikorski, Jr., P.C. (by Edmund J. Sikorski, Jr.), Ann Arbor, for the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

Brad A. Banasik, Lansing, for Michigan Association of School Boards.

Before: METER, P.J., and TALBOT and BORRELLO, JJ.

BORRELLO, J.

Plaintiffs appeal by right from the trial court's grant of summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(10). The plaintiffs children, who are homeschooled by their parents, sued through their parents as next friends when defendant school districts and defendant Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) refused to allow the children to participate in defendants' interscholastic athletic programs. In their six-count complaint seeking a permanent injunction, plaintiffs alleged that defendants' refusal violated their statutory and constitutional rights.¹ Specifically plaintiffs claim that they suffer by not being able to participate in extracurricular athletic activities. They contend that denial of the right to participate in extracurricular sports activities denies them anequal opportunity to receive collegiate athletic scholarships, thereby denying them

equal proteection under the law. Because we find that the statutes at issue do not require defendants to allow nonenrolled students to take part in the athletic programs and because we find no religious discrimination or equal-protection violation, we affirm the trial court's dismissal.

I. Facts

The next friends homeschool their children "in order to fulfill their God-given responsibility to raise children that know, love, and serve God and their fellow man," and to "ensure that the education provided to their children integrates their religious beliefs on a curriculum-wide basis and to minimize the influence of other world-views (e.g. secular humanism/scientific naturalism) and other persons (e.g. peers and other authority figures) which threaten to undermine those sincerely held religious beliefs."

To supplement their children's education, the next friends sought their children's participation in extracurricular interscholastic athletic programs in the school districts where they reside. Defendant school districts informed the next friends that their children could not participate in the districts' extracurricular interscholastic athletic programs unless they were enrolled in a public school within that district for at least twenty hours a week. Defendant school districts explained this was in accord with the MHSAA rules, which all school districts must follow to participate in the MHSAA's extracurricular interscholastic athletic programs.

Defendant school districts voluntarily joined the MHSAA. At issue in this case are the MHSAA enrollment regulations that provide:

To be eligible for interscholastic athletics, a student must be enrolled in a high school ... not later that the fourth Friday after Labor Day (1st semester) or the fourth Friday of February (2nd semester). Unless a specific exemption is stated in this or Section 8, a student must be enrolled in at least twenty (20) credit hours ... in the school for which he or she competes.

The MHSAA defines "enrolled" as "actually having attended one or more classes in a school as well as the appearance of a student's name on the books of the school." If a student attends a school that does not have an extracurricular interscholastic sports program, the student may participate in another school's athletic program, as long as the student is enrolled in and passing at least twenty credit hours. If a school allows a student who is not enrolled in accord with the MHSAA regulations to participate in its interscholastic athletic program, the school is sanctioned by forfeiting any victory to its opponents, and team records are stricken. Perhaps most importantly, any school with unsanctioned students is denied the opportunity to participate in the championship tournaments conducted under the auspices of the MHSAA. The MHSAA cites a variety of reasons for its enrollment regulation; foremost among them is to prevent recruiting or "ringers" in high school athletics.

II. Statutory Right to Participate

Plaintiffs first argue that the trial court erred because students not enrolled in a public school are allowed to enroll in noncore programs. To support this contention, plaintiffs cite MCL 380.10, MCL 380.1147, and our Supreme Court's rationale in Snyder v. Charlotte Pub. School Dist., 421 Mich. 517, 365 N.W.2d 151 (1984).

The Michigan Constitution, Const. 1963, art. 8, § 2, requires the Legislature to establish a "system of free public elementary and secondary schools...." MCL 380.10 of the Revised School Code states:

It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and education of their children. The public schools of this state serve the needs of the pupils by cooperating with the pupil's parents and legal guardians to develop the pupil's intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment.

MCL 380.1147 states:

(1) A person, resident of a school district not maintaining a kindergarten and at least 5 years of age on the first day of enrollment of the school year, shall have a right to attend school in the district.

(2) In a school district where provision is made for kindergarten work, a child, resident of the district, is entitled to enroll in the kindergarten if the child is at least 5 years of age on December 1 of the school year of enrollment. In a school district which has semiannual promotions, a child, resident of the district, is entitled to enroll in kindergarten for the second semester if the child is at least 5 years of age on March 1 of the year of enrollment.

In Snyder, supra, our Supreme Court held that a student enrolled in a private school that did not offer a band class could enroll in a public school's band class because the band class was a noncore class in which the student had a statutory right to enroll. The Court defined noncore classes as nonessential elective courses that need not be taught in nonpublic schools, including classes such as science, band, shop, domestic science, and advanced math. Snyder, supra at 540, 365 N.W.2d 151.

Certainly, the plain meaning of MCL 380.10 gives parents and legal guardians the fundamental right to determine and direct the education and teaching of their children, and it requires public schools to cooperate with the pupil's parents and legal guardians in developing the pupil's intellectual capacities and vocational skills. But plaintiffs have not asserted that interscholastic sports develop either their intellectual capacities or vocational skills. Rather, they rely on their proposition that the athletic programs are noncore classes as defined by our Supreme Court in Snyder, supra. They contend that extracurricular athletic programs are noncore classes because they are offered as an extension of the classroom and are part of defendants' educational mission. We disagree.

Our Supreme Court's decision in Snyder was in response to legal challenges surrounding the passage of what was then known as "Proposal C," which forbade using public monies to support nonpublic schools. In Snyder, our Supreme Court affirmed the long-established practice of "shared time" where students enrolled in nonpublic schools are permitted to attend public schools for instruction, stating:

By couching § 1147 in terms of a child's "right" and "entitlement" to attend school, the Legislature wished to prevent public school districts from arbitrarily refusing admission to children who live in the district and meet the age requirements. Note that under [MCL 380.1561(1)], parents and guardians must send their children to public schools. There is no requirement that the school be in the district in which the child resides. When read together, § 1147 and § 1561 guarantee children the right to attend neighborhood public schools, but gives them the option of obtaining their education at other facilities. [Snyder, supra at 528 n. 3, 365 N.W.2d 151]

Additionally, because the court determined that band constituted a noncore course, the Court held that a student had a statutory right to participate. The Court did not opine or even suggest that nonpublic school students were entitled to participate in extracurricular interscholastic athletic events, and nothing in the Snyder opinion dictates that conclusion.

Unlike noncore programs taught in schools, extracurricular activities are not required. Attorney General v. East Jackson Pub. Schools, 143 Mich.App....