The Virginia High School League and Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg have reached a settlement in the school’s antitrust lawsuit against the league.
The league, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, oversees athletic and academic competition at more than 300 public schools in the state.
The settlement, agreed to between the VHSL and LCA on May 7 and passed at a special meeting of the full VHSL membership on Wednesday, will make it possible for non-boarding private schools to apply for membership in the VHSL.
Private schools have contended the ability to play local public schools in athletics would significantly reduce their travel expenses and the amount of time spent on the road to and from events.
Under terms of the agreement, private schools in Virginia will have to adopt VHSL eligibility guidelines, which are more stringent.
“We’re basically holding private schools who want to join to the same standards,” VHSL Executive Director Ken Tilley said, adding that private schools becoming members will not be allowed to recruit or continue a common policy of granting athletes an extra year of eligibility to better develop their skills.
Also, because private schools often draw from a larger geographic area, the classification for co-ed schools will be determined by multiplying their enrollment by 1.5, and the classification for all-boys schools will be determined by doubling their enrollment, Tilley said.
John Patterson, the superintendent of LCA, says the school is very pleased with the resolution and looks forward to joining the high school league.
Dick Kemper, executive director of the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association, said the VISAA has 104 members, and all but 10-12 of them are non-boarding schools. He said he’d only followed the lawsuit from afar because only one school was involved, and the impact remains to be seen.
“I haven’t heard of any of our other schools that were interested, but that could be because they just didn’t want to make a statement,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see. … LCA did what it thought was best for its school. We wish them well.”
Tilley isn’t sure any other private schools will make the move.
“I don’t know that we’ll have any more because I’ve heard from people in Richmond and Tidewater and I suspect it would apply in northern Virginia as well,” he said. “I just don’t see any significant movement or perhaps no movement at all outside of LCA. That’s the message I’m getting.”
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