A Catholic high school in Oklahoma City says its sports teams shouldn't have to compete against schools nearly seven times as large.
Bishop McGuinness High School sued the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association on Monday, alleging the group is violating its rights and endangering its pupils. It has asked for a temporary restraining order.
The Oklahoman's Jacob Unruh reports the school is challenging OSSAA Rule 14, which forces private schools to play a level above their average daily membership if the school meets certain criteria.
McGuinness met the criteria in boys basketball after making the state tournament three of the past five seasons and is now scheduled to play at the Class 6A level along with the girls team, which has not had the same amount of success. That is what the school deems unfair in its lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. “I think the rule in total needs to be addressed,” McGuinness athletic director Gary Savely said. “We feel basically that the rule is not equitable. We’re good members of the OSSAA and have been for many years, but it treats us in a different way than it treats the other members.” KOTV-6 in Tulsa reported late Monday afternoon that Tulsa Kelley plans to file a similar lawsuit.
The OSSAA said it had received a copy of the lawsuit and that its board would discuss it at its meeting Wednesday.
Bishop McGuinness said a rule requiring it to move up in classification is arbitrary. It has about 700 students but plays in the same classification as schools with as many as 4,790 pupils.
McGuinness’ lawsuit says the rule is unconstitutional and in violation of McGuinness’ due process and equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. It also says the rule violates the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act, while citing cases involving Christian Heritage and Sequoyah-Tahlequah with the OSSAA along with out-of-state cases. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled last fall that the OSSAA was “arbitrary and capricious” with its ruling against Sequoyah-Tahlequah in which football players were ruled ineligible and the team was forced to forfeit games. The new lawsuit uses the same wording multiple times about the enforcement of the rule, which includes years previous to it being approved.
The high school said its girls' basketball team must play bigger schools based on the success of its boys' team.
-------------------------------------
KGOU relies on voluntary contributions from readers and listeners to further its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. To contribute to our efforts, make your donation online, or contact our Membership department.
