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Please review the article in the SHJ, google or search go upstate.com.... it is on the front page. I think Bob did a good job staying neutral.

Spartanburg School District 2 violates Title IX feds say - SHJ

Spartanburg School District 2 violates Title IX, feds say
Girls not given equal opportunities at sports, investigation concludes

By Robert W. Dalton
bob.dalton@shj.com
Published: Saturday, June 23, 2012 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, June 22, 2012 at 10:12 p.m.

Spartanburg School District 2 is in violation of federal law because it does not provide equal opportunities for its female athletes, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

And in a decision that could impact schools statewide, the OCR found that the manner in which Boiling Springs and Chesnee high schools schedule basketball games also violates Title IX, the federal law implemented in 1972 to guarantee equality in programs.

District 2 Superintendent Scott Mercer on June 13 signed an agreement with the OCR to address the issues discovered in the investigation, which began in March 2011 after a complaint from a parent.

The complaint also said the district discriminated against female athletes by failing to provide equivalent equipment and supplies; coaching and compensation of coaches; facilities for practices and games; and medical and training facilities and services. The OCR said there was insufficient evidence to rule the district in violation of Title IX on those accusations.

“I know there are disparities, but we felt good about most of the report,” said Brantley Enloe, District 2’s personnel director who also oversees Title IX compliance. “Obviously, the disparities they noted we’re going to address.”

Title IX requires schools to provide female students with athletic participation opportunities proportionate to female enrollment; demonstrate continued expansion of athletic opportunities for females; and meet the athletic interests and abilities of female students. The OCR, in its letter of finding, said the district does not meet the interests and abilities of its female students.

Of the district’s 2,850 high school students, 46 percent are female. About 31 percent participate in athletics.

Of the 54 percent of male students, 69 percent participate in athletics.

“While Title IX does not require exact proportionality, such a large disparity between enrollment and athletics program participation percentages cannot be due to chance, E.G., to fluctuations in enrollment,” the OCR concluded in its letter of finding sent to the district’s attorney on Wednesday.

The OCR said the district has made no effort to determine whether there are sports not currently offered that female athletes would like to participate in. But in interviews at Boiling Springs High in May 2011, investigators learned that a group of females had expressed interest in lacrosse and took the issue to then-athletic director Bruce Clark and were told the school was not in a financial position to add new teams.

“We have determined that the interests and abilities of the District’s female high school students have not been fully and effectively accommodated by the District’s present athletics program as evidenced by the number of female students who expressed an interest in the addition of lacrosse, the availability of competition in the competitive region, and the lack of any follow-up by the District,” according to the OCR report.

Clark resigned as athletic director the day after Mercer signed the agreement with OCR, citing a desire to spend more time with his family, focus on his duties as head football coach and his rehabilitation for a neck injury. Mercer said that, while some people may “try to connect the dots,” Clark’s resignation was not related to the OCR report.

Mercer said that, as a first step in the resolution process, the district would conduct a survey this fall to determine areas of interest. The district also will implement a roster size policy to increase participation rates.

District 2 also is exploring adding lacrosse, although Mercer said it currently doesn’t have the facilities or money appropriated in the budget.

In addition, Boiling Springs and Chesnee must change the way they schedule varsity basketball games. Traditionally, when the teams play a doubleheader, the girls play the opener and the boys play the nightcap. To give the girls the opportunity to play in the “primetime” slot, the schools must alternate starting times.

The OCR also instructed the district to propose the change at the regional scheduling meeting.

While the OCR’s finding applies only to District 2, schools statewide schedule games in the same manner. Flynn Harrell, the athletic director at Dorman High in Spartanburg School District 6, said the decision could prompt changes elsewhere.

“It could, but really what it boils down to is a region-by-region decision on choices like that,” Harrell said. In Region II-4A (which includes Boiling Springs and Dorman), we talk to the coaches and get a lot of feedback. I don’t know of one girls coach that has said they want it to be the other way around.”

In some states, the junior varsity and varsity boys play at one site, while the junior varsity and varsity girls play the same school at the opposite site, Harrell said.

“There are a lot of different ways of doing it,” Harrell said. “There’s a real hodge-podge. But most places just go with the doubleheader.”

bump, to keep them together, sorry

Dorman adding middle school soccer, next year. Maybe lacrosse, year or two out.

Well done, Dorman, thanks for doing the right thing.

Lacrosse in middle school or HS?

Middle school, was the word from Dr. Owens a year or so after soccer. They have it at the high school.

To date District 2 has not done the survey. I guess they will wait to the last minute. Their deadline is Dec 21, 2012, per their own resolution agreement.(Signed by Mercer on 6-13-2012) They have also tried to duck a FOIA request for the system they will use for the survey. Funny thing, I had an ex adminstrator offer to count the survey results,..., his words "they will just make the results up." Wow, hopefully this is not the case, but you never know.

Re: girls basketball playing the second "primetime game" I read an article from Michigan where a title IX lawsuit brought a change where the girls played after the boys. What happened was in several cases after the boys were done and the girls were on the court warming up many in the crowd got up and left. When asked, several girls said this made them feel worse than the small crowds they played in front of before because the crowd would grow during the game as the time for the boys games came closer and closer. Not making a judgement either way just warning about the law of "unintended consequences."

You hear that story both ways, sometimes it gets better, sometimes it gets worse. Ours will probably get worse until the school builds the girls program. I think they have only won 10 games over 3 years.

The biggest issue is the 500 girl gap, the school is failing to fill with athletic opportunities. Which is currently an intended consequence since they have turned past requests from kids, parents and coaches to add teams!