Parents, as next of friends of their minor daughters, and on behalf of similarly situated female students of Independent School District No. 38 of Osage County, also known as Hominy Public Schools, filed suit against the school district in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, alleging that the district had violated Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972, 20 U.S.C §1681 and the Equal Protect Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs alleged that the school district denied female students an equal opportunity to participate in interscholastic and school-sponsored activities and equal opportunity and treatment that accompanies the equal opportunity to participate in school activities based on gender.

Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the district had discriminated against female students with respect to equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practice times, travel, opportunity to receive qualified coaching, assignment and compensation of coaches, provision of locker rooms and practice facilities for both practice and competition, provision of medical and training facilities and services, and publicity.

The plaintiffs sought class certification on behalf of all similarly situated female students at Hominy Public Schools and injunctive relief requiring the school district to provide female students equal treatment and benefits as male students. The plaintiffs also sought monetary relief for damages, including out-of-pocket expenses and those incurred as a result of unequal treatment. Judge Michael Burrage granted class certification.

A settlement conference was held before Magistrate Judge Sam A. Joyner on June 19, 2000. Judge Burrage entered an order for a settlement agreement on November 11, 2000. In the agreement the school district agreed to add a 7th and 8th grade girls' fast-pitch softball team beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, and to conduct a survey in the Fall of 2000 to gauge the interest of female students in grades 6-11 for participation in volleyball, soccer and slow-pitch softball and to accommodate that interest. The school district also agreed to conduct a survey the following school year to determine the interest in sports not offered for female students and the potential to add a sport for the 2002-2003 school year. The district agreed to offer coaching salaries on a gender neutral basis, establish coaching offices outside of locker rooms, account for revenue and expenditure with respect to athletics, and establish a grievance system. The district also agreed to improve the softball facilities, increase fundraising for both male and female athletic programs, select coaches for male and female teams using the same criteria in a gender neutral manner, and schedule games and practices and improve access to facilities on a gender neutral basis.

Carlyn Williams - 03/10/2014


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