MANDATA - A Herndon man is threatening legal action against Line Mountain School District for not allowing his sixth-grade daughter into the wrestling program when she enters the seventh grade next school year.
Brian Beattie, father of Audriana Beattie, addressed the school board Tuesday night at the regular meeting at the high school for 20 minutes.
"What is your reason or objection to have women not in contact sports?" he asked. "There's no reason I see that you have to exclude women."
President Troy Laudenslager, on behalf of the majority of the board members, explained that while Beattie and his wife have decided to allow their girl to wrestle with male students, the parents of male students, both in the district and other competing districts, would not have a choice in the matter, and her competition would be forced to be uncomfortable or forfeit.
"There's a lot that could be awkward," he said.
His daughter has wrestled more than two years, including a year for the Line Mountain youth wrestling team, and in every dual and more than five tournaments.
Toward the end of the wrestling season, the wrestling coach informed the family that school policy prohibits females from wrestling on the junior-senior wrestling team. There is no female team.
Beattie, who called the district policy "discriminatory and illegal," presented several federal legal cases that would support him, but district Solicitor Rich Roberts said the cases wouldn't necessarily have the same influence in the third circuit courts, where the district is located.
Roberts also said he only knew of one case in the third circuit courts, and the policies were upheld in the district in question.
Beattie said he prepared to take his problem to Civil Rights Enforcement Section in the state attorney general's office, state Human Relations Commission in Harrisburg and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
"I'm sure the ACLU would love to hear from me," he said.
Roberts suggested exchanging case information and continuing the conversation at a later date.
"I'll take your information, and we'll go from there," Beattie agreed.
In other business, the board approved:
- The purchase of up to 40 Motorola MagOne UHF portable radios and a six-frequency FCC license from Keystone Communications, Northumberland, at a cost not to exceed $8,600.
- A change order in the amount of $1,800.56 in relation to the oil tank at Trevorton Elementary School.
- The forfeit of Silvertip Inc. not properly submitting a bid for a plumbing construction contract in relation to the district's addition project. They also authorized Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates to hire Bognet Inc. in the amount of $95,739 to replace Silvertip.
