Rockingham County Schools work on correcting Title IX violations

Rockingham County Schools Superintendent Rodney Shotwell confirmed this past week that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in Washington, D.C., investigated Reidsville High School last year for possible violations of Title IX, which included showing favoritism towards the men’s sports teams over the women’s sports teams. According to Shotwell, the OCR found some of those accusations to be true not only at Reidsville, but at the county’s other three high schools – Morehead, McMichael and Rockingham County High – as well.

Title IX is a federal law regarding gender discrimination which prohibits someone to be discounted any rights or be treated unfairly in an organization due to their gender.

Shotwell said a source unknown to the school district originally lodged four accusations against Reidsville High School to the OCR, which is keeping the accuser’s identity private.

Among the accusations: RHS was accused of having softball fields which were inferior to the men’s baseball fields. The school was also accused of having fewer assistant coaches for women’s teams than for  the men’s teams; of not providing as much athletic training assistance to the softball team as the baseball team and of paying the softball coaches less than the baseball coaches.

According to Shotwell, federal investigators inspected the fields and interviewed students, parents, teachers, coaches and athletes in order to determine if any violations had occurred. They also investigated the other three area high schools to see if they were also violating Title IX.

According to Jim Wilson, Rockingham County Schools’ director of athletics, driver education and safety, the OCR investigation determined the schools were providing the necessary athletic training required for the team as stated by law. The investigation also found the schools were paying the coaches the same salaries, regardless of whether they coached a men’s or women’s team.

Shotwell explained that pay is and always has been based on years of experience, not the gender of the sports team. The Office of Civil Rights found this statement accurate, according to both Shotwell and Wilson.

The Office of Civil Rights did, however, determine that the schools violated Title IX because the softball teams’ fields at all four schools did not meet the standard of the men’s baseball teams, according to Wilson. Reidsville High School did not even have a field for the women to use. Instead, the team used a field at Jaycee Park which was not set up for softball, according to Wilson. The other schools, though they had fields, were not up to standards with that of the men’s baseball field.

Wilson said this wasn’t due to gender discrimination in the schools, but, rather, due to a lack of funds.

“The fields are upgraded by the booster clubs,” he said. “We didn’t have an active booster club in softball, and if we did, they didn’t bring in as much money.”

Shotwell explained that the upgrades to the baseball fields were not done to intentionally to make them better then the softball fields. The booster clubs had a high participation rate in baseball, he said, and over the years they raised money to upgrade certain aspects of the field. Softball simply lacked this kind of attention from its booster clubs.

The Office of Civil Rights faulted the four schools for this and gave them three years to fix the fields and make them equivalent to that of the baseball teams’ fields. The schools are using money from Rockingham County Schools’ Capital Outlay and Contract Services Fund to fix the fields, according to Wilson. The upgrades, though beneficial for sports, are coming at a cost to the schools. Since the money is coming from their capital budget, money will be tight for the school system, according to Shotwell.

Reidsville High School was the first school to start construction to build a softball field, which should be finished by the end of this spring, according to Wilson.

After that field is complete, Morehead High School will begin upgrades on its softball fields this summer. The upgrades for Morehead include adding bleachers and fencing. The entire field also needs to be redone since the men’s football team used it as a practice field, according to Shotwell.

McMichael High School and Rockingham County High School will follow. McMichael will need a press box, concession stands, lights and bleachers. Rockingham will need fencing, lights and possibly a press box and concession stands. All four schools must also add a scoreboard, according to Shotwell.

In addition to being faulted for having inadequate fields, the schools were also cited for not having the same amount of assistant coaches as the men’s teams. The four schools each have added an assistant coach to their softball teams to equal what the baseball teams have. These positions have already been filled, according to Wilson.

“We’re committed to do what we need to do to meet the requirements of the federal government,” Shotwell said.

The schools were given three years to build the new facility at Reidsville High School and complete the upgrades at the other three schools, as well as filling the assistant coach positions. The school system has submitted paperwork to the OCR showing its plans and what has been done so far to fix the Title IX violations. So far, the school system has yet to hear back from OCR officials. According to Wilson, this likely means the Office of Civil Rights is pleased with the changes thus far.