ROANOKE CO., Va. – On Monday, 10 News collected court documents that showed that the family of Samuel Palmer had filed a lawsuit with the Roanoke County Civil Court, naming the Virginia High School League and Roanoke County School Board as the defendants.
The lawsuit alleges that Palmer - a tenth grader - is being barred from participating in VHSL-sanctioned cross country and track meets due to him being homeschooled.
The Palmers originally filed a federal lawsuit against the VHSL back in March.
However, a judge ruled their claim of religious exercise would be better heard in state court.
Their legal counsel, Josh Hetzler - Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Family Foundation - agreed.
“We feel very confident about our religious freedom claims, and this state is probably the best equipped to hear those state law claims,” Hetzler said.
Hetzler also believes that Samuel’s exclusion is also because of the family’s religious beliefs.
“What we have here is the government creating a system whereby all high school students play sports,” Hetsler said. “Which is fine, but they just can’t exclude someone because of their religion, and that’s our basic claim.”
Daniel Palmer - Samuel’s father - explained to 10 News why he and his wife Stacie, chose to homeschool their son.
“We’re not afraid of our children knowing what’s out there in the world,” Palmer said. “We believe that there’s a way that needs to be delivered and that instructors need to have a respect for a variety of world views and interests.”
Samuel not being able to run also limits his chances of competing in college and earning scholarships.
“It really relies heavily on what you’re able to do in high school, and if you’re getting tremendously limited opportunities, it’s very hard to get the attention of a coach at any level and then be able to compete at the next level,” Palmer said.
10 News reached out to both the Roanoke County School Board and VHSL for comment.
VHSL responded with the following statement: “Our membership has chosen to limit participation in VHSL-sponsored activities to students who attend VHSL member schools, and we will continue to defend that policy in court if necessary.”
Roanoke County Public Schools also responded, saying: “As with the federal suit that was filed, we do not comment on matters of litigation.”
A court hearing is scheduled for July for a preliminary injunction, which would let Samuel compete while litigation continues.