Locker room swap settles Title IX case
The only Title IX case to be filed in Idaho has been resolved, four years after the initial complaint was filed.
The Lake Pend Oreille School District was not in full compliance with Title IX, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Title IX is part of the 1972 Education Amendments that require equality in interscholastic athletic opportunities for male and female students.
Since 2002, when a female coach filed a complaint, the school district has been working with the civil rights office in taking steps to remedy that disparity.
A significant issue was that the male athletes’ locker room at Sandpoint High School was bigger than the one for female athletes. An additional locker room was built in 1992, which male football players used because of their larger gear.
By the end of this school year, the boys’ locker room will be modified for use by the girls, and the boys will move into the girls’ smaller locker room. That will equalize the space both genders have.
Sandpoint High School now offers all sports offered at other high schools in the region and sanctioned by the Idaho High School Activities Association. The school has added a girls’ volleyball team for underclassmen and a girls’ soccer team for freshmen. It also instituted a no-cut policy so that any girl who wants to participate in sports can.
As previously reported by The Spokesman-Review, the district made changes to its weight room to be more accommodating of female athletes. It bought lighter weights and put up record boards to document the girls’ achievements.
The district conducted surveys to gauge athletic interest. The most recent survey did not show enough interest by female students to add a viable team in any sport not currently offered. The district asked students’ reasons for not participating; most girls said they had other after-school responsibilities, conflicts at home, financial restraints or parents who don’t want them to partake. In earlier surveys, some girls said they weren’t participating because of conflicts with coaches and because the school did not have enough squads.
The district has demonstrated it took steps to accommodate girls’ interests, the civil rights office wrote in a letter dated Jan. 12.
“We’re happy that it’s come to an end. And in retrospect, we think it was a positive process,” said Superintendent Mark Berryhill. Still, he’s quick to say that in most areas – equipment, game times, travel, facilities – the district is doing “very well.”
Teresa Schow is the coach who filed the complaint; she has since moved to Wyoming. Schow contends that the inequality at the time was widespread and that girls weren’t feeling welcome to participate.
“Now, the message at Sandpoint is, ‘You’re welcome,’ ” Schow said.
If these efforts mean one more girl will get involved with sports – instead of dropping out, getting pregnant or doing drugs – it will be worth it, Schow said. “I’m ecstatic that things are right.”