Sean C. Morgan
School District 55 is among 60 Oregon school districts, with nearly 100 schools, named in a complaint alleging they do not give girls equal opportunities as boys in high school sports.
The complaint, alleging a Title IX violation, was filed with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights in Seattle, Wash., in April.
Title IX is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A 1972 amendment to the act requires that males and females receive equal opportunities at institutions that receive federal funding.
The complaint is based on data from the Oregon School Activities Association in 2004 and 2006, the most recent available. The complaint claims that the district is not providing equal opportunities for female high school students to play sports based on a three-part participation test.
The number of girls playing sports is not proportionate to Sweet Home High School’s student population, according to the complaint. The difference between the percentage of girls enrolled and the percentage of athletes who are girls is minus 5.1 percent.
The high school had 415 boys enrolled, compared to 385 girls in 2006, according to the complaint. The school had 200 girls and 265 boys playing sports.
To be proportionate, an additional 24 girls would be able to play sports, according to the complaint, which suggests that the amount of female participation is erroneous or fictitious since the data are inflated by the number of girls participating in cheerleading and dancing.
The district also shows continuing or increasing female participation gaps between 2004 and 2006, the second part of the test, according to the complaint, the opposite of the program expansion the school should be showing.
The data also show the district is unlikely to be able to demonstrate that it is fully and effectively accommodating girls’ interests and abilities, the third test, the complaint said.
The complaint lists sports that sanctioned and not sanctioned by the OSAA that are not offered to girls at Sweet Home High School. Among them the complaint erroneously lists golf and water polo, both of which actually are offered at SHHS.
It also lists gymnastics, bowling, crew and lacrosse, which are not offered at SHHS.
“By not providing equal opportunities for its female Sweet Home High School students, the Sweet Home School District 55 is depriving many girls of the significant benefits associated with playing sports,” the complaint said. “Sports participation has dramatic positive effects on young women’s health, academic success, employment prospects and self-esteem.”
The complainant, unnamed in the complaint, asked that the Seattle OCR investigate the district to determine whether female students have equal opportunities to play sports, take steps to remedy the conduct, secure assurance of compliance and monitor and enforce any resulting agreements with the district.
Among the other disricts also named in the complaint are Lebanon and Albany school districts.
District 55’s insurance company has an attorney working on the case, said Supt. Larry Horton, now retired. “In our understanding we haven’t done anything we feel is in violation.”
The plaintiff didn’t look at Sweet Home’s programs, Horton said. It mistakenly listed golf and water polo as potential sports for the district.
He also disputed the complaint about cheerleading and dance. SHHS gives letters to members of both teams, recognizing the gymnastics and workouts involved in those programs. Sweet Home’s competition cheer squad has won two state championships in the past five years and is a perennial top-three finisher. The dance team competes yearly at state.
Those girls spend time practicing and conditioning, Horton said. “They should be (considered) sports not activities in my opinion. Our girls in this community want to participate in them because they are quality programs.”
The district will cooperate with any investigation, Horton said. The high school has nothing to hide. It has made sure that girls are afforded the same opportunities as the boys.
On top of the regular programs, the high school also has an equestrian team that is typically a majority female, Horton said. The plaintiff also missed the Forestry Club, which has a substantial number of girls involved in regular competitions.