A federal civil rights lawsuit alleging religious discrimination has been filed in Johnstown by Bishop McCort Catholic Academy, challenging what it perceived as an attempt by the public schools in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference to exclude the three faith-based schools who are members of the conference.

The Catholic schools in the Altoona and Johnstown areas have participated in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference since its inception in 2022, but at the end of last year, it was time to renew participation in the conference for the years 2027-31.

What caused alarm during the renewal period was a proposed amendment to the Laurel Highlands constitution that changed the way schools could be expelled from the conference.

The lawsuit states that according to rumors, the public schools in the conference amassed enough votes to prevent Bishop McCort from continuing as a member of the conference during the next four-year cycle.

Following a Jan. 27 meeting of LHAC members, however, Bishop McCort, along with Bishop Guilfoyle Academy and Bishop Carroll, were renewed for another four years of membership in the conference, as well as all other member districts.

Despite a good outcome for McCort, McCort attorney Nicholas A. Miller of Bridgeville said the Jan. 27 vote does not resolve the lawsuit.

He said the underlying issue — religious discrimination — has not been addressed.

Any decision to discontinue the lawsuit will be up to McCort, he explained.

The lawsuit is seeking money damages.

Befitting a David-vs-Goliath scenario, McCort, with a student population of about 350 students, has named as defendants 19 school districts and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, which oversees high school sports in the state.

The lawsuit charges:

— A First Amendment violation of religious expression;

— A conspiracy between LHAC public school members to remove Catholic schools from the conference;

— And a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution (the Fourteenth Amendment).

The lawsuit was filed on Jan. 23 by Thomas Smith, the chief administrative officer of McCort Academy.

“The purpose of the legal action was to protect Bishop McCort’s constitutionally protected First Amendment right to offer a faith-based academic program, complete with extracurricular athletic activities, without deprivation through state conduct,” Smith explained.

In its lawsuit, McCort explained that under the 2022 constitution, any of the member schools could submit an amendment to be brought before all the schools for adoption or rejection.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown by attorneys George R. Farneth II of Pittsburgh and Miller, stated that last Oct. 21, representatives from several public schools including Hollidaysburg, Johnstown, Richland, Westmont, Tyrone and Somerset submitted an amendment to the 2022 constitution requiring the schools to submit commitment letters for another four years and that renewal “could only be effectuated by a two-thirds vote of member schools to be held at a meeting.”

According to the lawsuit, this clause would allow members to be expelled or excluded from the conference whereas, previously, expulsion could only occur for “cause,” which meant the school in question had to be guilty of doing some act that “harmed” the conference.

McCort maintained in its lawsuit that it did nothing to harm the conference.

During a Nov. 19 vote, the public schools approved the amendment.

The private, religious schools (Bishop McCort, Bishop Guilfoyle and Bishop Carroll) voted against the amendment.

A meeting was scheduled for December to approve the membership for the years 2027-31.

That meeting date was eventually changed to Jan. 27.

McCort feared that it would be removed from the conference, and in filing a lawsuit, it requested that a federal judge issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction so it could challenge the amendment which, it alleges, violates equal rights constitutions of the Laurel Highlands Conference, the PIAA, and the United States.

The petition filed by McCort quotes the PIAA constitution which states, “the PIAA believes that all boys and girls should have equal opportunity to participate in all levels of interscholastic athletics regardless of race, color, sex, creed, religion or ethnic background.”

Ralph Cecere, superintendent of the Homer City School District and PIAA chairman of District 6, on Dec. 4 sent a letter to Laurel Highlands Conference members, noting that a vote to remove Bishop McCort from the conference may result in a legal battle.

“District 6 and the PIAA do not recognize leagues/conferences. Schools are permitted to enter into contracts and compete against any PIAA member school, and we are in no way directing you on how to proceed. We are just informing you that if the vote goes against any LHAC member school, your distinct may, as in the case of Bishop McCort will, have a legal battle to address,” Cecere stated in his letter.

The McCort lawsuit interpreted the letter as the PIAA having a blind eye toward the possible expulsion of McCort from the Laurel Highlands Conference.

The lawsuit stated, “It is thus perfectly clear that even though the PIAA and its Districts have the ability to sanction, and therefore control, the conduct of its member schools to stop such behavior, it will allow a free-for-all of discrimination against religious organizations so long as the discriminatory conduct occurs within a regional sports league such as the LHAC.”

McCort’s lawsuit states that the PIAA has “a history of arbitrary and capricious decisions targeted against individual students seeking the type of faith-based education they would receive from a school such as Bishop McCort.”

It pointed out the PIAA routinely investigates transfers from public schools to McCort, charging the PIAA is biased against religious organizations.

The court petition filed by McCort pointed out that “it’s become a financial hardship on Bishop McCort to fight (PIAA) challenges on behalf of students seeking a faith-based education.”

The lawsuit concluded, “The PIAA is clearly acting on behalf and for the benefit of secular institutions, while withholding action when an entity, such as Bishop McCort, is religious.”

The PIAA indicated it would have no comment on a case that is currently in litigation.

The chief judge of the Western District Court in Johnstown, Cathy Bissoon, rejected McCort’s request for a temporary restraining order, noting that would be an extreme measure, but the lawsuit has been referred to the federal court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution program.

Also, a date for an argument on a temporary injunction has not yet been set.

Bissoon has now turned the case over to Judge Christy Criswell Weigand.

As for the Jan. 27 meeting, Homer DeLattre, the Hollidaysburg athletic director and director for LHAC, stated that all 22 schools who are conference members, including the Catholic schools, were approved as members for another four years.

The amendment which caused all the trouble was not mentioned during the meeting, he reported.

The defendant school districts include schools from PIAA Districts 6, 9 and 5.

The districts are: Bald Eagle; Bellefonte; Bedford; Bellwood-Antis; Central Cambria; Chestnut Ridge; Clearfield; Forest Hills; Johnstown; Hollidaysburg; Huntingdon; Penn Cambria; Penns Valley; Philipsburg-Osceola; Richland; Somerset; Spring Cove; Tyrone; and Westmont-Hilltop.

The lawsuit also lists Bishop Guilfoyle Academy and Bishop Carroll High School. They are listed only because they are part of the Laurel Highlands Conference. No damages are being sought from those two Catholic schools.