Legal Question in Education Law in Missouri

Re: Cheerleading

Let's hope the mom retained a competent lawyer.

The only real issue is whether the process used to select the cheerleaders was fair and that no unfair advantage was given in the selection process. For example, a selection process that favored blond, blue-eyed girls and disfavored African-Americans would be presumptively unfair. So long as the makeup of the cheerleading squad is roughly equivalent to the racial mix in the school, race should not be an issue. If there are 20% Hispanic in the school, and 2 out of 10 cheerleaders are Hispanic, you're in good shape. 1 out of 10, or 3 out of 10 might be good too, depending on objective factors.

An objective system that unintentionally discriminates against a racial or religious minority could also be unlawful. For example, if there were minimum height restrictions for cheerleaders (perhaps because of certain formations used), this might unintentionally discriminate against asians. A requirement to maintain a 3.5 GPA might also unintentionally discriminate against certain racial or ethnic minorities. Again, the test is really one of whether the squad captures the racial makeup of the school.

If the issue is that the girl did not receive high enough marks on her evaluation, and there were more than 2 evaluators who all agreed on those marks, then most lawyers are going to suggest there is no case. If the issue relates to the makeup of the squad or discrimination, then the issue is really probably too complex to give a short answer to here. I hope you find this helpful.