‘Public Interest’ Favors High School Athletic Association in Eligibility Case
A federal judge from the District of Kentucky has denied amotion for a preliminary injunction that would have allowed a student athlete to immediately participate in athletics at a high school he had just transferred to, rather than sit out a year as required by a Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) bylaw.
In so ruling , the court found it unlikely that plaintiff Jared Robbins’ and his parents, Matthew and Amy Robbins, would have succeeded based on the merits of their argument and that the “public interest weighs strongly against the grant of a preliminary injunction.”
The court noted that the KHSAA is the “management,supervisory, and enforcement organization for interscholastic athletics among public schools in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.” Members oft he association include Burgin High School and Boyle County High School, schools involved in the instant case. One of the bylaws adopted by the KHSAA — Bylaw 6— is known as the “Transfer Rule.” It “provides that a student is ineligible for one year from date of enrollment at the new school if the student participated in varsity sports at the old school after entering the ninth grade.”
There are exceptions to this rule, which allow for immediate eligibility, including: (a) a bona fide change in residence; (b) divorce of the parents; (c) change of custody; (d) death of a parent; (e) entering or returning from boarding school; (f) non-athletic participation for an entire calendar year; (g) reassignment by the Board of Education; (h) transfer from anon-member school; (i) military assignment; and (j) cessation of school program.
Additionally, the KHSAA Due Process Procedure allows for a waiver of the Transfer Rule “in cases where strict application of Bylaw 6 is unfair to the student athlete because the circumstances creating the ineligibility are clearly beyond the control of all of the parties involved.”
Robbins is a high school senior. Prior to the current school year, he was enrolled at Burgin High School where he participated in varsity athletics. Although the Robbins family resides in Boyle County,Jared attended Burgin “in part because his mother was a teacher in the Burg in school system.” However, Jared’s younger brother Josiah has been educated in the Boyle County school system since his sixth grade year. During the 2011-2012 school year, when Jared was a junior, Jo si ah was offered the opportunity to join the varsity baseball team as an eighth grader. Because “the number of games increased with Josiah now committed to a full varsity baseball schedule, the amount of driving that needed to occur to support both Josiah and Jared increased significantly.”
Additionally, Jared’s parents became concerned about the possibility of injuries or other problems that might occur if they did not attend all of their sons’ games. Due to the financial burdens and parental concerns that arose from the demanding new schedule, the Robbins family decided to transfer Jared to Boyle County for his senior year so that both boys “would be in the same school system.”
On September 4, 2012, Jared submitted a Transfer Form to the KHSAA requesting a waiver of Bylaw 6. The KHSAA Ruling Officer denied the request on September 10, 2012, and the Robbins’s appealed that decision. Following a hearing on September 20, 2012, Hearing Officer Edmund P. Karem issued a Recommended Order. In this Order, Hearing Officer Karem stated that he was “unable to conclude that the circumstances creating the ineligibility were beyond the control of all the parties involved.” On October 10, 2012, the plaintiffs and Boyle County High School filed exceptions (i.e., objections) to that conclusion; however, the Commissioner of KHSAA adopted the Recommended Order as a Final Order on October 15, 2012.
The plaintiffs sued the KHSAA in Boyle County Circuit Court on November 14, 2012, seeking an injunction to “restrain the Defendants from prohibiting Jared to train, practice, scrimmage, participate, and compete as a full member of the basketball team at Boyle County High School.” About three weeks later, the KHSAA removed the action to federal court. Soon thereafter,they moved for a preliminary injunction, leading to the instant opinion.
The court began its analysis by noting that preliminary injunctions “are generally disfavored in cases involving challenges to eligibility decisions made by the KHSAA. Because of the short duration of high school athletic seasons, the court should be especially careful granting emergency relief in such cases. ‘If an injunction . . . is granted erroneously,it will be practically impossible to unscramble the tournament results to reflect the ultimate outcome of the case.’” Ky. High School Athletic Ass’n v. Hopkins Cnty. Bd. of Ed.,552 S.W.2d 685, 690 (Ky. Ct. App. 1977).
In considering the motion, the court looked first at the“likelihood of success on the merits.” It noted that in the present case, the plaintiffs concede that Jared “does not qualify for any of the enumerated exceptions to Bylaw 6. Instead, they argue that ‘the strict application of the Transfer Rule is unfair to him because the circumstances that created the ineligibility were clearly beyond the control of all parties involved.’ The plaintiffs maintain that the KHSAA should have used the discretion provided by the Due Process Procedures to waive the application of Bylaw 6. Thus, they assert that the KHSAA erred in refusing to waive Jared’s period of ineligibility.”
The court disagreed, noting that Josiah’s invitation “to play varsity baseball does not constitute a circumstance outside of the Robbins family’s control. Matthew and Amy Robbins made the decision to send their sons,who are three years apart in school, to different high schools. In fact, the decision to send Josiah to a different school was based in part on his desire to play football — Boyle County has a football team and Burgin does not. Therefore, the Robbins’ initial decision to place their sons in different school systems was motivated by a desire to give Jared and Josiah the very athletic opportunities that were the source of the family’s later financial and personal difficulties. … (A)lthough the Robbins family had obviously experienced financial hardship and difficulty with their sons’ competing schedules, it is not clear that those issues arose from circumstances that were outside of their control.”
The court concluded that KHSAA’s ruling “is not clearly erroneous and the court cannot, therefore, conclude that it is arbitrary or capricious. In short, the plaintiffs have failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits.”
On the second factor, the court sided with the plaintiffs on the question of whether they would Suffer Irreparable Harm. It then determined that, factor three — the Balance of Hardships, “cuts both ways.”
Finally, regarding the Public Interest factor, the court noted that the KHSAA handles “nearly one thousand transfers” per year. “The plaintiffs argue that each of these transfers should be considered individually. However, the costs involved in investigating each transfer would be substantial. Moreover, as the KHSAA points out, it ‘would have rare success in identifying athletically motivated transfers disguised as non-athletically motivated transfers.’ Applying an objective standard is not only in the best interest of the KHSAA for practical reasons, but it also serves the public interest by giving students and their parents a consistent rule. It would not be in anyone’s interest — least of all the students most directly affected — to make the process of transferring schools more unpredictable. And an application of Bylaw 6 that depends on an individual assessment of each student’s particular circumstances would do exactly that. Therefore, this factor weighs strongly against the grant of a preliminary injunction.”
Jared Robbins v. Kentucky High School Athletic Association, etal., D. Ky.; Civil Action No. 5: 12-355-DCR,2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181695; 12/26/12
Attorneys of Record: (for plaintiffs) William R. Noelker,LEAD ATTORNEY, Danville, KY. (for defendants) Chad Willis Collins, LEAD ATTORNEY, Kentucky High School Athletic Association, Lexington, KY.
