Reference no: EM133478471

Case: In kindergarten, Michael Miller was held back for not showing sufficient progress as compared to his peers and the school district's standards (the school district is in the top 10% of the state). He was diagnosed with dyspraxia, a disorder affecting his ability to perform certain tasks involving fine and gross motor skills, such as holding a pencil, coloring, using scissors, handwriting, tying shoelaces, catching a ball, and riding a bicycle. Because he qualifies for adaptive physical education accommodations, Michael has been allowed to participate in interscholastic sports with some modifications. One example is, in baseball, Michael is permitted to bat with the pitcher standing 45 feet away, as opposed to 60'6", which is the rule in high school baseball.

For his first three years of high school baseball, no opposing coach had a problem with the accommodation. An average player hitting .275, Michael possesses no superior skills, and he does not run particularly fast. He strikes out more than he walks. Michael's team was also not that good, losing more games than it won, until his junior year, when the team went 10-9.

Just before his senior year, however, Kevin Klarkson joined the team. Kevin was a freshman phenom, featured in Sports Illustrated when he was just 12 years old. (In his Pony League, Kevin went 13-0 as a pitcher and hit .680). Pre-season rankings listed their high school as one of the top 10 teams in the state, based largely on Kevin's arrival. As the team naturally generated some publicity, more people around the state started taking notice. One person to pay attention was Geraldine Gardner, the athletic director of the defending state champion. When she learned that opposing pitchers were directed to stand 15½ feet closer to the plate when pitching to Michael, Geraldine filed for injunctive relief, on the grounds that 1) such accommodation was a violation of the state athletic association's governing rules; and 2) Michael, who turned 19 in October (because his birthday missed the September 1 cutoff for school, in addition to repeating kindergarten), is ineligible to play, and that any games he does play in should be considered forfeits.

Question: How should the court rule?