LAWRENCE — It’s strike three for Bishop Fenwick High School in its ongoing dispute over the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletics Association’s decision to ban the school from participation in postseason tournaments for the 2023-2024 school year.
Friday, Superior Court Justice Janice W. Howe handed down a decision denying Fenwick’s motion for an emergency preliminary injunction that would temporarily enjoin the MIAA from enforcing the ban pending a full hearing on the merits of the case.
“I feel for Bishop Fenwick and their community,” Fenwick attorney Leo Fama II said. “My hope in bringing this case was to add a level of due process to an already-difficult procedure. Putting the decision aside as an attorney, I appreciate that Judge Howe gave us our day in court. While I am extremely disappointed in the outcome and heartbroken for the number of kids that this has affected, the court gave us a full and fair hearing, which I appreciate.”
In making its decision, the court agreed with the MIAA’s argument that there was no likelihood of success on the merits of the case following a full hearing. The court did not buy into Fenwick’s contention that the MIAA infringed on its due process rights regarding adequate notice, saying the claim “is wholly without merit (and that) at this juncture, Bishop Fenwick has not demonstrated any likelihood of proving that the MIAA’s penalty was arbitrary and capricious.”
“The decision affirms the mission of the MIAA and its continued support of its 383 member schools. As determined in previous court rulings, the policies and decisions of the MIAA and its board of directors are not arbitrary nor capricious and are made for the greater good of the Association,” the MIAA said in a statement Friday. “The responsibility of accountability with each member school rests with each school’s leadership team in making decisions at the school level; the policies and procedures set forth by the member-driven Association must be followed. We are hopeful this decision allows everyone to move forward and we welcome the opportunity to continue to work with Bishop Fenwick, a valued member of our Association.”
The court also took issue with the timing of the filing of Fenwick’s original complaint, saying that “while the penalty was handed down on June 8, 2023, BIshop Fenwick did not file this action until Oct. 6, well beyond the 60-day deadline for certiorari actions.”
Howe noted that she was not required to address Fenwick’s argument that denial of the motion would cause “irreparable harm” after finding no likelihood of success on the merits. But she concluded that Fenwick “failed to also make this showing.”
Howe concluded by saying that “while the court does not want to discount the importance of extracurricular activities, including athletics for the student participants, one must not forget the fact that such participation is a privilege, not a right (Mancuso, 453 Mass. at 126).”
The case involves the MIAA finding that Fenwick had violated MIAA rules on two distinct occasions “within a matter of months.” The first centered around a seventh-grade student from another school who played on the baseball team. Fenwick failed to get a required waiver for said student in spite of MIAA rules regarding middle school students’ eligibility, requiring it to do so. The second incident centered around “AM,” a former Lynn Classical student-athlete whose request for a waiver to play a fifth year was denied. Howe determined that the application and appeals processes in both cases included “serious misinformation” that Bishop Fenwick either provided to the MIAA or failed to correct when given the opportunities to do so.
“In the MIAA’s view, Bishop Fenwick demonstrated a pattern of violating the MIAA rules, and then, failed to accept responsibility for those violations when confronted,” Howe said. “The court cannot say that there was no rational basis for this conclusion.”
Fama said the case wasn’t just about the students who attend Bishop Fenwick.
“The goal was to ensure due process and transparency with the MIAA, not only for the students of Bishop Fenwick, but for the 200,000 students governed by it,” he said.
