Brief / Memorandum in Support re 3 Motion for Preliminary Injunction . Filed by Daniel Palmer, Stacie Palmer, S.P.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit)(Sylvester, Michael)

DANIEL PALMER, et al.

) Plaintiffs, )

v.

In the Roanoke County Public School (RCPS) system, students who attend public schools entirely from home in a virtual learning environment, and even private school students, are welcomed to participate in RCPS’s athletics events. However, if a student is a home school student—even if doing so for religious reasons—that ends the discussion. Home schooled highschoolers are categorically excluded from participating in public-school sports.

Consequently, ninth-grade student Plaintiff S.P., who is home schooled primarily for religious (and also for medical) reasons, currently is barred from RCPS athletics because he is home schooled. This has harmed Plaintiff most particularly by removing meaningful opportunities for him to participate in track & field and cross country competitive running and to pursue college scholarships through competitive running, and by reducing his ability to manage his unique neuropsychiatric condition that is helped through competitive running.

Defendants’ policy of excluding S.P. and all home school students from public school sports violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 16 of Article I of the Virginia Constitution, and the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Because of this, as set out below, Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction against this bar should be granted.

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a. The Palmers and Home Schooling Home schooling is an abundantly popular form of education in Virginia today. More than 66,000 grade-school students in Virginia are educated in this fashion. Dkt. 1, ¶ 16.

To home school, a parent must satisfy multiple statutorily-mandated requirements. A parent must: (i) demonstrate ability to provide home instruction for the child, (ii) annually notify the local school division of intent to provide home instruction, (iii) annually provide a description of the curriculum to be administered, and (iv) annually provide evidence of the child’s appropriate academic achievement, such as a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on a nationally normed standardized achievement test. Va. Code § 22.1-254.1. Virginia law declares that, if a parent complies with these requirements, home schooling is “an acceptable alternative form of education.” Id.

Plaintiff S.P. is a ninth-grade student residing in Roanoke County, Virginia. Dkt. 1, ¶ 14. Since 2016, his parents, Plaintiffs Daniel and Stacie Palmer, have educated S.P. at home, always complying with these statutory requirements. Id. at ¶ 22. They are excellently situated to home school. S.P.’s mother, his primary home school teacher, holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Virginia Tech, holds a graduate-level gifted education endorsement from the University of Virginia, and was licensed to teach in public schools for 11 years. Id. at ¶ 30. Similarly, S.P.’s father, his secondary instructor, holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Virginia Tech, a master’s degree in public administration from Virginia Tech, and a master’s degree in Biblical languages from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Id. at ¶ 31.

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The Palmers annually apprise RCPS of their intent to home school S.P., their education- related credentials, a description of their intended curriculum, and evidence of S.P.’s academic achievement. Id. at ¶ 21. S.P.’s ninth-grade curriculum includes a well-selected assortment of eight distinct subjects: algebra I with geometry, Spanish I, economics, U.S. government, English, logic, integrated chemistry and physics, and piano. Similarly, S.P.’s academic performance has been excellent. Id. at ¶ 23. In June 2025, for example, on the California Achievement Test (“CAT”)—a standardized test that is nationally recognized—S.P.’s results reported his reading, math, and language achievement as each being in the 98th percentile or above, and his having achieved a grade equivalent level of 13.6 in all subjects. Id. at ¶ 29.

The primary reason for the Palmers home schooling S.P. is their religious beliefs as Bible- believing Christians. Id. at ¶ 32. They believe educating S.P. at home provides them the best opportunity for him to learn, process, and assimilate content in ways that are consistent with and not contrary to his faith. They further believe sending S.P. to public school would expose him to worldviews, assumptions, and educational philosophies that are contrary to their faith. They believe God will judge their efforts as parents and educators of their children, and that home schooling is the way they can best steward their responsibility for S.P. They further believe they have a duty to raise their child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Their religious beliefs lead them to home school their children because they believe it provides the best opportunity for them as parents to incorporate the Bible and Christian discipleship throughout the day, which they believe is commanded in Scripture (e.g., Deuteronomy 6 and Proverbs 22:6). Id.

A secondary reason for the Palmer’s home schooling S.P. is his unique PANS/PANDAS condition. This condition causes sudden onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms like obsessive compulsive disorder, tics, anxiety, and behavioral changes in children, typically

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triggered by infections. Home schooling allows the Palmers to adapt to and manage the effects of S.P.’s condition in a fashion that is beneficial for him. Id. at ¶ 49.

b. Track & Field and Cross Country Throughout his youth, S.P. has developed a passion and skill for track & field and cross country distance running. Id. at ¶ 35. In his middle school years, he competed in many such meets and events both as an individual runner and as part of a home school track team. Id. at ¶ 36. Those meets included competitions against RCPS teams. For example, in the eighth grade, S.P. competed as a home school student in the Cosmopolitan Invitational Track & Field Meet in May 2025, a VHSL-sanctioned public school track meet held at William Fleming High School in Roanoke, Virginia. Likewise, as a middle school student, S.P. competed against public school students in track & field and cross country events including invitationals hosted at public high schools in Roanoke and Blacksburg, Virginia, and an invitational held at a public middle school in Roanoke, Virginia. Id. at ¶¶ 36, 39, 40.

Defendants VHSL and RCSB knew that S.P. was home schooled when they allowed him to compete in VHSL-sanctioned track & field and cross country meets and invitationals as a middle school student. Id. at ¶ 42. Being home schooled, he was able to compete “unattached”—meaning he competed individually, without a team affiliation or as part of a home school team of runners. Id. at ¶ 43. This created no problem.

However, when S.P. entered the ninth grade, everything changed. At that point, RCPS excluded S.P. from its public school track & field and cross country competition events simply because of his status as a home schooled student. Id. at ¶ 56.

RCPS is a member of Defendant Virginia High School League (VHSL), an organization that governs interscholastic sports and academic competitions for every Virginia public high

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school, and even some of Virginia’s private high schools, by setting standards, implementing rules including eligibility requirements, and organizing statewide competitions in numerous athletic activities. Among the sports VHSL regulates are track & field and cross country. Id. at ¶¶ 7, and 5.

Importantly, VHSL is comprised of and governed by government entities and representatives who agree to uphold its rules. Based on its nature and composition, VHSL is a state actor, and its actions are subject to constitutional restrictions. Id. at ¶¶ 5 and 6 (citing McGee v. Va. High Sch. League, Inc., No. 2:11-cv-35, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110270 (W.D. Va. Sept. 28, 2011).

RCSB participates in and enforces VHSL’s rules for students competing in interscholastic high school athletics, including track & field and cross country. Consequently, it carries out VHSL’s policy of prohibiting S.P., and all home school students, from participating in VHSL- approved athletics. Dkt. 1 at ¶ 7.

Defendants’ intent to exclude home school students is clear. VHSL’s Policy Manual (Relevant excerpts from Manual are attached as Exhibit 1) first acknowledges that, like private schooling, home schooling satisfies “Virginia Code compulsory education requirements.” Id. at ¶ 24 (citing VHSL’s 2025–26 Handbook and Policy Manual § 28A-3-3 (hereafter “Manual”)). Its Manual further provides that “[h]ome schooling is the equivalent of school enrollment for purposes of [some] future eligibility requirements,” including VHSL’s requirement that students’ have maintained successful academic performance in their most recent prior school semester (referred to as VHSL’s Scholarship Rule). Id. at ¶ 24 (citing Manual § 28A-3-3).

Despite this, however, by policy, VHSL excludes any home schooled student from participating in any VHSL-sponsored interscholastic athletic competitions, including track & field

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