with U.S. Title IX regulations
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
The state Office of Civil Rights has determined there is insufficient evidence to support allegations of violations of federal Title IX rules at Freehold Borough High School.
In a letter to James Wasser, the superintendent of schools in the Freehold Regional High School District, Brenda E. Johnson, team leader, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Philadelphia, said, "With regard to equipment and supplies, facilities, coaches’ salaries, assignment of coaches and game times, the Office of Civil Rights did not find any significant disparities between female and male teams. Thus the district is in compliance with the Title IX regulation as to these areas."
The allegations came to light when members of the district’s Board of Education and administration discussed the issue at a July 23 meeting.
A spokesman with the U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C., told Greater Media Newspapers at that time that the complaint was received on March 14, an investigation was opened April 23 and a visit to the school was made by federal investigators on July 18.
The federal government knows the identity of the complainant in this case, the spokesman said, but under the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1975 the department may not reveal the identity of the person or persons who lodged the complaint.
Specifically, the complaint against Freehold Borough alleged that the school discriminated in three areas of interscholastic sports: equipment supplies, practice and competitive facilities and the availability of coaches for female sports teams, the spokesman said.
The Title IX federal educational amendments of 1972 require that equal opportunities be provided to males and females who compete in interscholastic and intercollegiate sports programs that receive federal funding. The amendments also apply to course accessibility at schools, according to the spokesman.
In reaching their determination that Freehold Borough is in compliance with federal law, the OCR investigators reviewed information submitted by the complainant and from district administrators. The OCR personnel made an on-site investigation and conducted interviews with school employees.
The OCR letter indicated there were "no significant disparities regarding supplies and equipment for female athletic programs as compared to male athletic programs in regard to quality and condition."
Additionally, there were no disparities regarding uniforms, locker rooms, entrances to fields and to the fieldhouse at the school, access to school gymnasiums, availability and assignments of coaching staff, coaching staff salaries and the availability of night games.
The district, in its comments to the OCR, agreed to continue to provide the OCR with periodic reports and will continue to recognize its obligations.
"We are pleased that OCR has found Freehold Regional to be in compliance with Title IX regulations," Wasser said. "We believed all along that we have made tremendous strides in the expansion of our athletic programs for girls and boys at all our high schools, and that the district offers equal educational opportunities in all areas, including sports."
Wasser said the OCR was thorough in its scrutiny.
"The OCR personnel looked at equipment and supply purchases, facilities, coaching salaries, assignment of coaches and game times," the superintendent said, "and they found no evidence of violations at Freehold Borough High School."
Commenting on the OCR findings, Freehold Borough High School Principal Dr. Carol McKee said, "I’m not surprised it turned out the way that it did in terms of exonerating us from all the allegations. I’ve been the principal here for 10 years and intimately involved with every aspect of the school, including the athletic programs. I know that we have been very careful, over the years, to get everybody equal uniforms, supplies and equipment."
McKee said she would never allow any disparity between male and female sports teams and said she has always made sure that expenditures for teams were balanced, wherever and whenever possible.
(Editor’s note: Students from Howell attend the six schools in the Freehold Regional High School District.)