Largest School District in Nevada Agrees to Add Athletics Opportunities for Girls in Response to National Women's Law Center Complaint

OCR’s investigation finds insufficient athletic opportunities for girls in Clark County, Nevada

(Washington, D.C.) In response to a complaint filed by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has found that girls in Nevada’s Clark County School District, the most populous county in the state, are not receiving equal opportunities to play sports, in violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded schools.  The investigation revealed district-wide disparities of 2 to 22 percentage points between girls’ enrollment and the share of athletic participation opportunities provided to them in the district’s 36 schools. These gaps represent a total of 2,613 additional opportunities needed to level the playing field for female students.  Based on the information provided by the district, girls were underrepresented in the interscholastic athletics program at all but one of the high schools for which the district provided enrollment and athletic participation data for the 2009-2010 school year.

“The resolution of this complaint confirms the Center’s conclusion that the schools’ own data demonstrate widespread disparities in athletic opportunities,” said NWLC Co-President Marcia D. Greenberger. “This decision sends a clear message that the district must do more to provide girls equal chances to reap the valuable benefits of playing sports that extend far beyond the playing field. Numerous studies show that girls who participate in sports attain higher academic achievement, experience lower teenage pregnancy rates and have overall better health. The Center’s findings and OCR’s investigation underscore the urgency of treating girls fairly and putting these schools on the path toward compliance with Title IX.  In the forty-first year of this landmark law, it’s time to level the playing field and give girls the athletic opportunities they deserve.”

Under this agreement with OCR, the Clark County district will conduct a comprehensive assessment by September 30, 2013 to determine whether female students have unmet athletics interests, and the assessment will include a survey of all high school and eighth grade female students. The district is required to provide its findings to OCR and to outline the additional athletic opportunities that it will offer its female students to ensure a level playing field.

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