Little Rock attorney Cody Kees filed a motion Wednesday morning to dismiss a lawsuit against the Cleveland County School District, its superintendent Davy King and athletic director Chris Vereen.
In July, an attorney for the Arkansas Activities Association, which is also named in the lawsuit, also filed for a motion to dismiss.
The lawsuit, filed by Star City attorney Clint Todd on behalf of Steven Saeler and his minor son, Ethan, alleges that King denied Ethan the right to play sports at Woodlawn High School where he transferred because King would not sign the necessary paperwork to allow participation under a new state law.
Saeler's lawsuit states that during the spring semester of his son's sophomore year, paperwork was submitted on April 7, 2025, showing Ethan's "intent to withdraw from Rison High School" and "transfer to Woodlawn High School, within the Woodlawn School District, 'for academic reasons'.
Kees attached Ethan's student withdrawal form, which was signed by Ashley Saeler, Ethan's mother, on April 10, 2025, and submitted to teachers, a principal, a librarian, school counselor, and a principal. They, too, signed the withdrawal form.
Woodlawn School District administration "officially requested and reviewed E.S.'s transcript through the Triand system" the same day.
The motion to dismiss explains the "triand system is state-wide software system used by school district to allow student's records to move between school districts when a student transfers."
Kee's motion states Ethan Saeler was dropped officially as a student in Rison on April 10, 2025, and enrolled at Woodlawn High School, another school in Cleveland County, the same day.
The issue between the parties, however, concerns Ethan's right to play sports and King's refusal to sign a Changing Schools/Athletic Participation (“CSAP”) form.
Such a form must be completed and filed with the receiving school and the Arkansas Activities Association before a student may participate in AAA-sanctioned activities like football and baseball.
"King declined to sign the CSAP form for E.S. after learning that E.S. was transferring schools so that he could play baseball for Woodlawn," Kees' motion states. "Accordingly, E.S. is not eligible to participate in varsity athletics at Woodlawn High School for the 2025-26 school year."
Todd also filed court documents Wednesday morning on behalf of the Saelers asking the court for "Declaratory Judgment and for Damages" as well as an "Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order" to allow Ethan Saeler to play sports.
Todd wrote in his filing:
"Due to the choice of Davy King, and Cleveland County School District, to apply it in violation of Act 368 and the right of equal protection for E.S., the rights of E.S. are infringed upon each and every day.
The educational school year for 2025-2026 began on August 11, 2025, and for each school day thereafter, E.S. is not afforded the opportunity and right afforded to other
students who transfer schools, or those who attend school at their place of domicile, specifically, the opportunity to participate in varsity athletics.
Each day that Respondents mandate that E.S. is prohibited from participating in varsity athletics is a day that said constitutional rights are violated and the fundamental liberty interest of Petitioner in the care, custody and management of
his minor child are infringed upon for which he is without adequate recourse such that, due to the immediate and irreparable loss of a fundamental liberty interest, a
temporary restraining order enjoining the Defendants from baseless barring E.S from participating in extracurricular activities should be issued without written or oral notice to Respondents."
However, Kees argues that Ethan Saeler's rights are not violated under a new state law passed this spring by the Arkansas legislature and signed into law by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on April 8.
The Saelers, in their lawsuit, state that they asked King to sign the CSAP form on April 7 – one day before Sanders signed the bill into law.
The new law
Kees states that the state's new law "narrows" the grade levels and the deadline "for which a CSAP form can preserve a student's immediate eligibility for playing on the varsity team."
The legislature made changes to the law to halt high school juniors and seniors from transferring to another school just to play sports.
Kees writes in his motion to dismiss: "High school juniors and seniors are now excluded from the CSAP process entirely. Meaning, juniors and seniors are generally ineligible to play AAA-sanctioned sports for one year if they transfer under school choice to a new district without moving into the district."
He also argues that the Saelers' issue is more with the Arkansas Activities Association than the school district and should have been handled between those parties and not in circuit court.
However, Kees also states that "Act 768 required both the resident and nonresident school superintendents to sign the CSAP form unless there was demonstrable evidence of recruiting or a transfer for athletic purposes."
Rison school administrators believe Ethan Saeler was recruited to play sports – football and baseball – for the Woodlaw Bears. He played both sports for the Rison Wildcats.
"Act 768 did not mandate that a superintendent must sign a CSAP form regardless of circumstances; rather, the statute vested discretion in the superintendent to decline a signature if the transfer was for athletic purposes. The facts here demonstrate precisely that scenario. Superintendent King, in his lawful discretion refused to sign the CSAP form after learning that ES. sought to transfer for athletic reasons," Kees writes.
Constitutional parental rights
Todd, on the Saelers' behalf, argues that "Steven Saeler, as a citizen of the State of Arkansas, is entitled to his fundamental liberty interest as parent in making the ultimate decisions regarding the health and well-being of his child."
Those rights "are being denied or disparaged" by the Arkansas Activities Association, the Cleveland County School District, King and Vereen.
Todd warns that if an emergency restraining order is not issued Ethan Saeler will be "unduly harmed as football season for Woodlawn School District start games this
coming week and he will not be allowed to participate due the Defendants' unjust and illegal actions regarding E.S.'s CSAP form."
Going further, Todd argues that the Saelers' constitutional parental rights, having been violated, has caused "irreparable injury and will
continue to cause such injury unless and until restrained by this Court and such injury is presumed."
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Spencer Singleton.
(Read the Reckoning's first exclusive story about this lawsuit here.)
