Defendants-Appellees' (“Districts”) Response Brief (“RB”) entirely fails to rebut Plaintiffs-Appellants' (referred to collectively as “Parker”) showing that the scheduling of almost all boys‟ varsity basketball games, but only about half of the girls' games, in “primetime” violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The Districts' arguments are based solely on their own unsupported version of Title IX athletics law, and ignore or misinterpret the language of the applicable policy, case law, and a letter from the federal enforcement agency warning them about the disparate scheduling. They also ignore the basic point that the school districts work together to establish the athletic schedules that discriminate against girls.
With regard to the constitutional violation, the Districts have not shown that they are entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity, and they fail to demonstrate that the gender-based disparity in scheduling primetime basketball games meets the heightened scrutiny standard. Therefore, this Court should reverse the district court and remedy the discrimination in scheduling.
