WILLIAMSPORT - The judge who ruled in the Audriana Beattie case granted an extension for paperwork deadlines and rescheduled the initial case management conference.
The conference involving Beattie's parents' federal lawsuit against Line Mountain School District over her participation in the district's all-male wrestling program is now scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26. It will involve court personnel and legal representation from the two sides, according to documents filed Friday by U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Brann also gave the district until March 13 to respond to Brian and Angie Beattie's Jan. 27 request for the district to pay $140,681.89 in legal fees to the Flaster/Greenberg law firm and the Women's Law Project.
Audriana, a seventh-grader, had wrestled for the district's elementary program, but last school year her parents were told of the district's gender-specific policy that would prevent her from competing on the junior and senior high levels.
The issue came to a head in April when the Beatties confronted the school board. With no resolution, they filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, citing equal rights discrimination violating both the state and federal constitution.
A federal judge granted both - a temporary order on Nov. 1 and the preliminary injunction on Jan. 13. The orders have allowed Audriana to continue wrestling with the district program until the case is resolved, either by settlement or by trial.