Parochial school students will be allowed to compete on their home public school district’s athletic teams in some circumstances after the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association was sued by students, parents and a religious-rights group.

An interim consent order agreed to by the PIAA and plaintiffs on Monday, Sept. 15, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania states students enrolled in Pennsylvania faith-based schools are now eligible to participate in PIAA-governed athletic activities at their home public district “if the interscholastic athletic activity is not available” at their faith-based school.

The interim order is in place until new PIAA bylaws take effect.

The plaintiffs included Religious Rights Foundation of PA, a nonprofit, according to Tom Breth, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.

Religious Rights Foundation of PA, according to its website, is supported by the Thomas More Society, a conservative Chicago-based law firm advocating for faith-based causes, that Breth is part of.

“The argument is that the students that attend parochial schools have a constitutional right to participate in the same curricular activities offered to home schooled and charter school students,” Breth said.

After another agreement in a separate case involving the State College Area School District gave students eligibility for all extracurricular activities at the district, plaintiffs approached the PIAA.

Breth said the group asked the PIAA to declare parochial students eligible for the same opportunities, and got a “no” response.

A suit was filed by the end of July, making the argument the PIAA has the same obligation to providing opportunities to parochial students within their home district’s boundaries as it does for those enrolled in district schools.

“For example, you may have a student that attends Portersville Christian, and they live in Butler. Under PA law, if you attend a charter school or are home schooled, you have a right to participate in co-curricular and extracurricular activities of the home district. If you live in Butler and are home schooled, you can play for Butler,” Breth said. “But if you go to Portersville Christian and play basketball, and live in Butler, you have to play for Portersville Christian.”

Bill Mylan, Butler Area School District’s athletic director, said while the court order represents a change in PIAA policy, he doesn’t expect it to have a significant impact on his school or others.

“For our district, it doesn’t have any real big impact. It comes down to the bylaws the PIAA puts in place and this court injunction allows this to happen immediately,” Mylan said.

But Breth sees both lawsuit outcomes as a notable shift in precedent here in Pennsylvania.

“In my opinion, it’s ending a long-standing policy of discrimination against parochial school students. Some districts would not let them participate and the PIAA took the position they were ineligible to participate. These cases are a 180-degree change. Before they were excluded, now they’re included,” Breth said. “These are taxpayers, the parents are residents of the district. Why not give these students an opportunity?”