Federal Judge Rules Virginia Can Keep Homeschoolers Off Public-School Teams

By Robert J. Romano, JD, LLM, St. John’s University, Senior Writer Chief Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division, issued a decision in the case of Palmer v. Virginia High School League, Inc., denying a preliminary injunction sought by the family of a homeschooled ninth-grade distance runner who was barred from competing in public-school track and cross country.[1] Within her On May 27, 2026, opinion, Chief Judge Dillon addres