Girl Cut From Cheer Squad Threatens to Sue

A Florida student is threatening to sue Leon County Schools … because she was cut from her high school cheerleading team. Caylen Berry, head coach of the Leon High School cheer squad—which finished second in the state last season and will compete in Orlando's National High School Cheerleading Championship in February, per WGN—says the senior fell twice during a recent tryout and failed to nab a spot on the team, reports the Tallahassee Democrat. Afterward, a rep says the district was "made aware of a parent's complaint," which apparently included a threat to sue. The district is now considering just putting the student on the team—but Berry says that'll be one strike too many.

Berry claims the district placed a student on the Leon cheer squad last year though she was initially cut. "This is just a thing the district does and thinks is OK," she says, though district officials say that decision was made at the school level. If the move is repeated, Berry and some cheerleaders say they'll quit. "They should not put an athlete on the team that doesn't deserve to be on the team," says Berry. "A decision like this would question my integrity as a professional. It also questions the entire legitimacy of tryouts and cheerleading as a sport." LCS says it's working with school officials to determine "what's in the best interest of the student and the school," per the Democrat. A decision is expected in the coming weeks. (More Florida stories.)