Lake Tahoe students cannot participate in public school sports

Student athletes from the Lake Tahoe School who wish to participate in Incline Middle School sports are still benched, said Washoe County School District Superintendent Paul Dugan.

The middle-school-age athletes are still prohibited from participating in athletics at Incline Middle School per a Washoe County School District regulation, Dugan said after a Wednesday meeting with LTS Headmaster Steve McKibben.

“I would love to be able to accommodate all students,” Dugan said. “But I can’t justify why we would allow a private school student to take the place of a public school student on our team.”

McKibben maintains the School District is misinterpreting it’s administrative regulation 5117.1, which reads: “Students who are enrolled in nonpublic schools or who are home schooled may enroll in classes or extracurricular activities, excluding sports, in Washoe County Schools ...”

Nichole Truax, site administrator of IMS, found the regulation before this school year started and informed McKibben. She has said previously that once she is made aware of a School District policy she cannot choose to ignore it.

Truax had no comment for this story.

To compensate for the decision, the LTS formed a cross country team just before the season started.

McKibben said previously that Lake Tahoe School students hoping to participate in volleyball and basketball will be short-changed by the regulation because the LTS doesn’t have enough students to field competitors in large-team sports.

“I think there is some murkiness in the regulation and it is fundamentally misinterpreted,” McKibben said.

Both McKibben and Dugan said the meeting was cordial, and Dugan recommended McKibben seek a legal opinion and engage the School District’s legal counsel in discussions.

“We’ll obviously obey the law as it is interpreted,” Dugan said.

McKibben said he would speak with the board of the Lake Tahoe School after it returns from recess following next week’s October break.

At that point, McKibben said, the board would decide whether or not to seek counsel, since the school doesn’t keep an attorney on retainer, before proceeding.

Dugan said the matter would only come before the Washoe County School District board if the Lake Tahoe School decided to file a lawsuit.