WILLIAMSPORT – Athletes are punished more severely than other students in the Southern Columbia Area School District, a new lawsuit says.
The parents of a suspended student make that claim in a Williamsport federal court case filed Sept. 16 on behalf of their son, identified as oft-suspended 17-year-old T.W.
The suit says T.W. has been suspended from athletics for an entire year for going to a party on Sept. 5 that featured adults and alcohol. The suspension was handed down even though he was tested for drugs and alcohol after and those tests came back negative, the suit says.
He’ll be suspended from football, wrestling and track and field if the lawsuit is unsuccessful. Last year, he was suspended for 2.5 football games for an incident with alcohol that led to drug and alcohol counseling and school-imposed probation.
In February, he was suspended for attending a party, though he did not drink at that one, the suit says. He missed the rest of the wrestling season.
The lawsuit questions his latest suspension after attending a Sept. 5 party with other students and adults. It attempts to pick apart the suspension policy, claiming only student-athletes are punished for off-campus violations of the drug and alcohol policy.
“There is no rational relationship between the district’s interest in prohibiting students from drinking off-campus, assuming it has a legitimate one, and the Drug and Alcohol Policy targeting its punishment at – and only at – student athletes,” the lawsuit says.
He is represented by lawyers at Elliott Greenleaf in Wilkes-Barre.