School District’s Activities Rule May Violate First Amendment

A Pennsylvania school district must face a claim that its policy prohibiting private school students from participating in extracurricular activities violates the First Amendment, a federal court said.

The State College Area School District’s policy prohibits private school students from participating in after-school activities, but it has exceptions for charter-schooled and homeschooled students, the opinion by Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said Dec. 1. The generally applicable rule’s failure to extend the exemption to students who attend parochial schools for religious reasons, denies a government benefit, on the basis ...