A Cook County judge will rule later Friday about whether Jones College Prep cross country teams can participate in a state regional event this weekend.
The case has broad implications for other Chicago Public Schools students who also want to compete in state meets while their teachers and coaches are on strike.
About 100 students attended the hearing at the Daley Center on a complaint filed Thursday by 14 parents of the cross country students against the Illinois High School Association and the Chicago Board of Education that seeks a temporary restraining order to allow the athletes to compete in the state playoff events during the strike, including Saturday morning’s cross country regionals.
Judge Eve M. Reilly said she would issue her decision by 5 p.m.
At issue are IHSA rules that say students can participate in the state series if the events have already begun before their teachers go on strike.
Attorney Kevin Sterling, who is representing the athletes, argued a qualifying event held Oct. 16 — a day before the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike — that cross country teams participated in should be considered part of the state series.
Sterling said the IHSA had not defined what constituted a “state series” in its bylaws and said the students were owed the right to participate and would suffer harm, potentially from the lack of being able to receive scholarships that might result from their competition.
“If one students loses that opportunity ... the cost is too high,” Sterling said.
David Bressler, an attorney for the IHSA, said the city championship event that students participated in was not part of the state series, which he said was clearly defined in the organization’s bylaws.
Bressler accused Sterling of “stretching like a contortionist” to make his argument.
Mara Warman, an attorney for the city, said the Board of Education agreed with the IHSA’s interpretation of the rules and due to the strike, the board could not safely and fairly staff the sporting events.
If the judge ruled in favor of the runners, Warman said, the court would compel the district to staff the events with the limited resources being used to keep schools open for students with nowhere else to go during the strike.
Reilly said while she was “sympathetic” to the students affected by the strike, she would ultimately make her ruling on the basis of the law.
