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A South Ogden father is suing Weber School District after his daughter was passed over for the Bonneville High School women's basketball team.
Attorney Rick Westmoreland said his daughter wasn't cut because of her skill, but because of a district policy that allows just two ninth-graders from each junior high to play at the high school level.
"She was number three," Westmoreland said. "So the coach says, 'We'd love to have you, but we can't because of the policy.' "
In a lawsuit filed last week in Utah's 2nd District Court, Westmoreland accuses the district of violating the constitutional rights of his daughter, who is not named in the lawsuit and whom he declined to identify. She is a student at South Ogden Junior High.
He said the two-student cap is arbitrary and capricious and asked the court to rule that Weber School District's policy is unconstitutional.
"If a kid goes up and tries out at the high school and doesn't make it, that's a coach's prerogative," said Westmoreland, who works in the Davis County Attorney's office. "In this case, they're not doing that. The school district is saying you can only have two."
The district's policy was changed in March, creating the two-student cap, spokesman Nate Taggart said. Before the new policy, students who wanted to participate in a high school sport that was also available at the junior high level had to be picked as a varsity-level player.
The new policy allows ninth-graders to participate on sophomore- and junior-level high school teams, Taggart said, while preserving sports programs at the lower grade levels.
"It should be that exceptional ninth-grade student that moves up," Taggart said. "It allowed students the opportunity to play up if they so choose, but at the same time still make sure that we have a good junior high school program."
Westmoreland said the decision of who plays on a team should be made by coaches in partnership with parents and students, not dictated by a district policy.
He said it's unlikely that waves of ninth-graders would bypass their school teams and play high school ball.
"The only thing I want to see happen from this is to remove the [cap of] two and let this be sports as it should be," he said "Kids try out and coaches either select them or don't select them."
Attorneys with the Weber School District have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Taggart said district officials expect the court to rule in favor of the school district.
"This has gone before our legal counsel, who has found that our policy is sound," he said. "There's only five kids who can be on the court at the same time and we want to give as many students a chance to play and play for their school as possible."