Federal judge ruled SCASD violated Title IX. Now the district is adding a new hockey team
Seven weeks after a federal judge found that the State College Area School District violated Title IX, the district is starting a second middle school hockey team in order to comply with the ruling.
In early December, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann ruled that the district violated Title IX by not accommodating female students on the team. Brann approved a preliminary injunction for the three female students who sued the district, ordering the district to include the girls, even if it meant sponsoring a second team.
In a Friday status report to Brann, SCASD’s attorney Christopher Conrad detailed the district’s progress to create a second team. The district met with the parents who filed the lawsuit and their attorney in December, as well as the board of the ice hockey club.
The district announced the creation of the team to middle school students during the week of January 3, reporting 17 students interested in joining, five of which are female. The district held an informational meeting for interested students and parents on Tuesday.
Ice time at Pegula Arena is “extremely limited” with only a 6:20 to 7:30 a.m. session available two days a week for the second team, according to the letter.
The three students and their parents filed the lawsuit against the district in August after the roster for the team was announced in April with 19 boys and no girls chosen for the co-ed non-checking club team. The parents of the girls petitioned the district to create a second team but were repeatedly denied by the district and parent-run booster club.
The booster club cited lack of rink time, too many players and authority to create a second time. Even after parents found enough players, coaches and rink time for a second team, their proposal was still denied.
“SCASD has demonstrated its compliance and support for the creation of a second Middle School ice hockey team, and will continue to take meaningful steps, within its capacity, in order to facilitate such,” Conrad wrote in the letter.
In addition to the creation of the club, the district will be conducting a Title IX audit of its PIAA programs and drafting a club sport policy that will be presented at the district’s Jan 23 board meeting.