Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You About High School Sports and Title IX

Yesterday, we passed along an article where College Sports Council Chairman Eric Pearson had this to say about the next frontier in Title IX enforcement:

While much of the Title IX enforcement centers on quotas, there are other huge red flags to be wary of, such as the reaction to some volunteer efforts and donations of parents and community members’ for high school sports teams, Pearson said.

And, as if on cue, the following article appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times (PA):

The federal government is trying to determine if the Bristol Borough school district discriminated against high school female athletes, according to the United States Department of Education.

The accusations stem from the recent establishment of a football boosters club, according to a letter of inquiry sent to Bristol Superintendent Broadus Davis from the department’s Office of Civil Rights.

“The complaint alleges that the district is discriminating against high school female athletes on the basis of sex by using funds from booster clubs to provide male athletes with benefits that are greater than those the district provides to female athletes,” said David Blom, in the letter.

The fear, according to Blom, is that it would result in various inequities including equipment and supplies, game and practice schedules, locker rooms, and practice and competitive facilities.

Incredible. Parents help set up a booster club to support a high school football team and the federal government launches a discrimination investigation? What’s next, authorizing a wire tap to investigate a bake sale?

One would think that in a country where so many schools fail at — shall we say, basic blocking and tackling — that the Federal Government might have better things to do. The story has since been picked up by the AP, which means it ran on the wires and appeared in newspapers across the state of Pennsylvania. Here’s hoping lots of people read it.

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