The Salem-Keizer School District is reviewing its high school athletic programs after a federal civil rights investigation found the girls’ softball team had inferior facilities, equipment and access to coaching at Sprague High School.
Superintendent Christy Perry signed a voluntary resolution Nov. 3 agreeing to evaluate the resources given to all Sprague girls and boys sports teams and report any inequities, along with a plan for remediation, back to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
The agency began the investigation in July after the federal Education Department received a complaint alleging the district violated Title IX, the part of the federal education law that prohibits gender discrimination at institutions that receive federal funding.
The letter announcing the investigation did not tell the district who filed the complaint.
“OCR’s investigation to date has shown that the district may not provide girls’ softball teams with locker rooms, practice and competition opportunities comparable to those offered to the school’s boys’ baseball teams. Specifically, OCR received information that boys baseball has superior playing fields, wells, bullpens, fencing, landscaping, bleachers, batting cages and storage facilities compared to what is provided for girls softball,” the Nov. 4 resolution letter stated. office in Perry.
The letter noted that the district acknowledged many of these issues and was working to update facilities and address the issues.
Lara Tiffin, the district’s athletics and activities coordinator, said in an interview Monday that there was a disparity between girls softball and boys baseball at Sprague, but many of the issues were resolved before the complaint was filed.
“There have been many improvements over the past year that are addressed in the complaint,” he said. “It was nice to see that just because it’s the right thing to do.”
Tiffin said some of the issues stemmed from the late hiring of a coach at the start of the 2021-22 school year. Sprague hired a math teacher to also coach softball after the school’s main schedule was already set for the year.
In general, Tiffin said softball and baseball coaches, who also teach, have prep periods at the end of the day so they have time to prepare the field and equipment for practice before school ends.
However, because the hiring took place after school was scheduled, the teacher had to teach during those periods instead, which affected softball coaching availability.
“When they were made aware of the concern, they offered backup coverage on game days so he could prepare the field,” Tiffin said.
This year, the coach has free periods at the end of the day to prepare the field.
At Sprague, construction work on a school expansion and improvement was completed this fall, along with improvements to the athletic facilities. Tiffin said part of that work included upgrades to the athletic facilities, including better softball dugouts, more spectator capacity and new locker rooms for female athletes.
The resolution requires district officials to review Sprague’s athletic programs, focusing on the facilities, equipment, resources and coaches available to the boys and girls teams. They must identify areas of inequality and report to the Office of Civil Rights within 120 days.
The district also has 90 days to submit a plan of remediation and must report every six months until the issues are resolved.
While the resolution focuses on Sprague’s programs, Tiffin said he plans to review all high school athletic programs through a Title IX lens to identify other areas of inequity.
His position is new this school year and will focus on improving athletics and other after-school programs at high schools. Tiffin was previously the longtime principal of South Salem High School.
“We intend to address most of the components of the remedial action plan before it is developed,” Tiffin said.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander at [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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