## Facts

- John Colombo, Jr., a 15-year-old student in the Sewanhaka Central High School District No. 2, sought to participate in interscholastic contact sports.
- Colombo had a significant hearing impairment; the district’s medical officer, Dr. Nathan Samuels, evaluated him.
- Dr. Samuels concluded Colombo was effectively unable to hear on the right side and had diminished hearing on the left even with a hearing aid, creating safety risks in contact sports.
- The district issued a directive barring Colombo from participating in interscholastic contact sports on behalf of his school.
- Colombo and his parents commenced a CPLR Article 78 proceeding, alleging the directive was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.
- The record included conflicting medical opinions about whether participation posed a danger to Colombo and to other players.

## Issues

1. Whether, under CPLR Article 78, the district’s safety-based directive excluding a hearing-impaired student from interscholastic contact sports was arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.
2. Whether the existence of conflicting medical opinions required the court to overturn the district’s reliance on its designated medical officer’s judgment.

## Decision

- The court denied the Article 78 petition and sustained the district’s directive.
- The court held the determination had a rational basis and was not arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.
- The court declined to reweigh competing medical opinions where the district relied on a responsible medical judgment tied to student safety.

## Legal Principles

- In an Article 78 proceeding, a court reviews whether an administrative determination has a rational basis and is not arbitrary or capricious; it does not substitute its judgment for the agency’s.
- A school district may restrict a student’s participation in interscholastic contact sports when supported by competent medical judgment that participation presents safety risks.
- Conflicting expert views do not, by themselves, make a district’s safety determination arbitrary if the district relies on a reasonable medical assessment.
- Participation in interscholastic contact sports is subject to reasonable school safety regulations and is not an absolute entitlement overriding safety-based exclusions.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the school district’s exclusion of a hearing-impaired student from interscholastic contact sports because the decision rested on a rational safety justification supported by the district medical officer, and Article 78 review did not permit the court to choose among conflicting medical opinions.


Colombo v. Sewanhaka Cent. High Sch. Dist. No. 2, 383 N.Y.S.2d 518 (Sup. Ct. Nassau Cnty. 1976)