Bishop McCort, Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference reach deal to settle discrimination lawsuit
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A lawsuit filed by Bishop McCort Catholic Academy against the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference and its member school districts has been settled amicably.
Bishop McCort had filed the civil rights lawsuit alleging religious discrimination after an amendment to the Laurel Highlands constitution changed the way schools could be expelled from the conference.
McCort claimed the amendment would be used to remove the faith-based schools from the conference, since the amendment -- voted on and approved Nov. 19, 2025 -- would allow members to be expelled or excluded from the conference by a two-thirds vote by member schools. Previously, members could only be expelled or excluded from the conference for "cause," which meant the school in question had to be guilty of doing some act that "harmed" the conference.
As part of the settlement, the member schools listed as defendants in the lawsuit must jointly submit a proposed amendment to the LHAC constitution that would immediately rescind the Nov. 19, 2025, amendment and reinstate the previous process. In addition, the member schools agreed to vote in favor of that proposed amendment.
The settlement does not list monetary compensation, instead stating that the "parties are responsible for the payment of their respective attorney's fees."
Thirteen school districts signed off on the agreement -- Bishop McCort, Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte,
Bellwood-Antis, Central Cambria, Chestnut Ridge, Clearfield Area, Hollidaysburg Area, Huntingdon Area, Phillipsburg-Osceola Area, Richland Area, Spring Cove and Tyrone.
"In the spirit of sportsmanship, these schools have set their differences aside, have reached an amicable resolution to their dispute, and look forward to competing against each other for many years to come," reads a joint statement issued Thursday by the districts.
While the settlement states that the school districts agree to keep the agreement confidential, Altoona Mirror reporters filed Right-to-Know requests with several districts more than a week ago when the issue of the settlement came up at several school board meetings.
On Thursday, a lawyer representing multiple school districts released the settlement agreement to the Mirror under the Right-to-Know law which finds that the settlement is a public document.
Despite Bishop McCort's concerns over being excluded from the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, a Jan. 27 meeting of conference members saw Bishop McCort, along with Bishop Guilfoyle Academy and Bishop Carroll, being renewed for another four years of membership in the conference, along with all the other member districts.