East & Highland High Sophomore/Freshman Soccer Game (3/26/14)

A soccer Mom is someone you do not want to tangle with–The Salt Lake City School District bureaucracy learned that lesson when they ran afoul of the soccer moms of East High School.

Last Friday the school district ordered the disbandment of the East High sophomore /freshman boys’ soccer team.

Link: District Nixes Soccer Team

On Monday night, one of the soccer moms wrote the following email to school district officials:

“I am reaching out to you as the Title IX Coordinator of the Salt Lake City School District. I am forwarding you a string of emails wherein someone on the district level, believing that Title IX required the school to create a balanced athletic system, ordered coach Schenk to abruptly disband the boy’s sophomore/freshman soccer team.

This action is not only counterintuitive but I believe in violation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights directive which states:  “It is OCR’s policy to encourage compliance with the Title IX athletics regulations in a flexible manner that expands, rather than limits, student athletic opportunities.”  (see Dear Colleague Letter – September 17, 2008)

Rather than draw unfounded inferences based on the boy’s soccer team expansion in recent years, and risk missing the forest for the trees, it is important to look at the overall picture of the athletic program at East High. My email to the superintendent solicited no real solutions. A players/parent meeting earlier this evening resulted in the absence of any district personnel. This served to increase the distrust that the community already has for the district.

In my research, I discovered that schools can comply with Title IX’s requirements in the area of athletic participation opportunities in any one of three ways: (1) by providing opportunities substantially proportionate to each gender’s enrollment; (2) by expanding opportunities for the underrepresented sex; or (3) by fully accommodating the existing athletic interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.

Meeting any one of these three tests will bring a school into compliance in this area. Significantly, none of these three standards requires schools to cut teams for the overrepresented sex and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) actively discourages resorting to this measure; each of these measures can be achieved by expanding opportunities for the underrepresented sex. Which I believe our school has done.

I am asking that you intervene and compel the district to comply with tenants of Title IX and reverse its decision to disband the sophomore/freshmen soccer team.  At this time it would only be fair to allow the boys to continue their regularly scheduled season as is while an investigation is conducted.

This matter was brought to our attention after three games were already played in the season. The boys have a game Wednesday, March 26th at Highland and a set of games they are scheduled to play with three other teams in Park City on Saturday, March 30th.  As of right now the coaches have been told that the boys will not be able to participate in the games Saturday due to the games being out of the Salt Lake City School District.

We are all aware that among its many benefits, participation in extracurricular athletic activities promotes socialization, the development of leadership skills, focus, and of course, physical fitness why would we want to rob our students of this opportunity.

Please let me know within the next 24 hours if your office can help rectify this situation or is this something that we must file a complaint with OCR in Denver.”

 On Tuesday, district officials released the following statement:

“I wanted to let you know the latest update regarding this situation. ..It is our intent that while we gather additional information on the situation, that the soccer team will be allowed to continue its schedule.…Upon receiving the necessary information to review the situation, if indeed a problem exists then a plan to remedy the issue will be developed.  The approach that we would like to pursue will be one that is inclusive rather than restrictive….”

The moral of this story:

DON’T MESS WITH SOCCER MOMS!

East High Soccer Team Meeting on Monday-March 24, 2014 

On Friday of last week the “district” advised Coach Schenk that East High had to disband the Sophomore/Freshman boy’s soccer team because they were in violation of Title IX federal regulation and Utah High School Activities Association regulations.

Coach Schenk advised the soccer players and parents of the directive. I have posted one of the emails that the parents sent to the Superintendent on Sunday. As you can see from the email, the parents have a lot of questions which remained unanswered in the Superintendent’s reply.

The parents called for a meeting with the district, coach and players. I was also invited to attend as an observer. The meeting was held at 5:00 p.m. this afternoon (Monday) and no one from the district was in attendance. It is embarrassing to be part of a school district that delivers half baked explanations for poor decisions and then creates a void that compels parents to expend a large amount of time and energy in order to make sense of it all.

So here we go again! Someone on the “district” level makes a decision and then leaves the front line worker (the coach) to field questions for a judgment call that he did not make but is required to carryout.

I would have thought that the “district” would have learned their lesson by now. This duck and weave and then bury your head in the sand by district administrators has no place in public education, yet it is the common practice in this school district under the current leadership.

Perhaps there is a reasonable and credible explanation for the decision. Then why not share that with all involved? Why leave these people in this lurch?

The Players, the Coach and the Parents deserve answers from the district.

I predict that if believable and credible answers are not provided on Tuesday –March 25^th – then the district is in for another black eye in the public relations arena.

Link to Email Exchange

Michael & Maureen Minson at Poplar Grove’s Night Out Against Crime

FACING SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION?
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

One of my neighbors, Maureen Minson  is currently attending the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law and is promoting a student’s ‘know your rights’ campaign.

PDF Link to Brochure

2001
In 2001, while serving as the PTA President at Glendale Middle School. I was was concerned about the high number of ethnic minority students being suspended and expelled from the school. I ended up getting arrested for attending a disciplinary hearing.

PDF Link: City Weekly Article & Michael’s Response to School District Attorney

2005
Since that time, administrators at Glendale have become more sensitive to the issue of the high suspension rates for students of color and have taken affirmative steps to address it.

Link to Deseret News Article: Slashing Suspensions

When I addressed the issue in 2001, the school bureaucracy had me arrested and denied that there was a problem.

In 2005, Glendale Principal, Ernie Nix took the courageous step of acknowledging the problem and then took steps to rectify the situation.

2013
Based on reports I receive today, the current administration at Glendale Middle School continues to be sensitive to this issue and work first, to keep our kids in school.

I support my neighbor, Maureen Minson’s efforts to educate students and parents about their rights.

Maureen is a life long resident of the Glendale Community.  She is a graduate of East High and attended Glendale Middle School. Not only does she understand the statistical realities, she understands, first hand the need to keep our kids in school.

PDF Link: District S-3-Student Discipline Policy