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Tenn county has to answer to disparities

By Erin Buzuvis, Sudha Setty, and Kristine Newhall

A county in Tennessee has received a complaint regarding the treatment of its girls' soccer team. OCR is set to investigate as soon as the school turns in its own report. The school had already been undertaking a Title IX assessment.
But the complaint targets the perks some parents see the football team receiving and the lack of access the girls' soccer team, which has the season in the fall as well, receives.
The complaint about funding will likely go nowhere. Simply saying that football receives more money, as the complaint does, is not a violation. It is to be expected that a team with a much larger roster and more expensive equipment/uniform needs would receive more funding. There would be issue, however, if football was receiving funds to buy the highest quality equipment while soccer was getting only average equipment. But the exact nature of the funding disparities has not been explained.
The access to facilities complaint could be more salient in this case. Soccer players apparently are not receiving consistent access to locker rooms and practice facilities. Also at issue are practice times, booster club monies, and scheduling of games.

Full post as published by Title IX Blog on May 01, 2009 (boomark / email).