State College Area School District held an informational meeting this week about the formation of a second middle school ice hockey team after a federal judge found in December that the district violated Title IX by not providing accommodations for girls who wanted to play.
But parents who filed the lawsuit say the district has wasted too much time and had few answers about when, if at all, the team would play.
In a counter-status report filed Thursday with U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, attorney Aaron Brooks wrote that the district “has utterly failed to make any meaningful headway,” in accommodating the three girls represented in the lawsuit and others who have been unable to play.
“While SCASD may have decided on some long-term goals that it wishes to achieve, it has made it clear that SCASD does not believe it has any obligation to ensure the Plaintiff girls ever play a single second of hockey,” Brooks wrote.
Brann ordered a preliminary injunction in December requiring that the girls be rostered on an ice hockey club team and that a second team be created if need be. Brann wrote that “the Plaintiffs have not been given the opportunity to which they are afforded under Title IX,” the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in schools.
The co-ed middle school club ice hockey team, which plays in the Laurel Mountain Hockey League, was operated by the Ice Hockey Club, a parent-run booster group, but was chartered and sanctioned by the school district and required to have an academic adviser employed by SCASD.
Parents of the three girls filed the lawsuit in August after at least four female students were among the 34 who tried out for the co-ed middle school team in April. After the tryouts, 19 boys were chosen for the final roster, but no girls. The parents repeatedly petitioned the district and the Ice Hockey Club, before and after the tryouts, to form a second team — noting that there would be enough players and that because a private youth hockey team in the area was no longer rostering girls, opportunities for female players would be limited — but their requests were rebuffed until Brann’s order last month.
In a status report filed on Jan. 13, SCASD attorney Christopher Conrad wrote that the district and Ice Hockey Club had taken steps toward forming a second team and securing ice time at Pegula Ice Arena. An informational meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, with announcements made in advance at each of the middle schools and emails sent to all 1,500 middle school students.
Brooks wrote in his letter on Thursday that, with less than five weeks remaining in the Laurel Mountain Hockey League season, SCASD officials said the second team is still in the exploratory phase to determine if there was sufficient student interest and had no timeline for when play would begin.
An informational packet responding to parents’ questions indicated SCASD did not have an answer for who would coach the second team, the actual cost for players to participate, knowledge of whether the league would allow a second team to play or how many games would be played, if any.
SCASD spokesman Chris Rosenblum wrote in an email on Friday that the district has “worked diligently” since the preliminary injunction was issued to assess interest and has met or spoken with parents of the plaintiffs, members of the Ice Hockey Club board, representatives from USA Hockey and the Laurel Mountain Hockey League and personnel at Pegula Ice Arena.
“This is a complex matter with many moving parts, but we can assure our community we are doing everything possible to move through this process,” Rosenblum wrote.
According to the district’s status report last week, ice time at Pegula was limited but would be available for practices at 6:20 a.m. on Tuesdays. The existing middle school team practices at 6:30 p.m., and the parents say the district did not respond to inquiries about splitting ice time so both teams had equitable opportunities. When the parents initially sought formation of a second team last year, ice times were available for weekday evenings.
“Plaintiffs should not be further punished with a 6:20 a.m. practice time due to the IHC and SCASD’s prior bad acts,” Brooks wrote.
Seventeen students, including five girls, expressed interest in playing, but “the meeting was scheduled during a weekly practice time for 11- and 12-year-old players, when 75% of the likely interested middle school students would already be on the ice and their families would be unable to attend,” Brooks wrote. Six families representing eight potential players attended, and several who were unable to attend asked that information be relayed to them.
Tryouts also were scheduled during a conflicting time when many potential players would be unavailable, Brooks wrote.
A district official told the parents that “chances of forming a team are unlikely,” according to the letter. Despite Brann’s order for the district to ensure that the girls are rostered on an ice hockey team, the same official allegedly told the parents that the requirement “was not to find a place for these young ladies to play hockey. It was to see if there was a possibility of a second team.”
The district has made no determination about the ability to roster a second team, but is “taking sincere steps in the hope of resolving the issue,” Rosenblum wrote, adding that SCASD would continue to focus on doing so.
Multiple coaches consulted by the district said the team would need a minimum of 12 players, according to Rosenblum, but currently the district has only 11 applicants and no goalie.
“Given these numbers so far, we have reservations whether we’ll be able to field a full team,” he wrote. “However, despite this, we are committed to holding tryouts.”
SCASD is “grounded in equity and inclusion for all,” and does everything it can “to ensure all students have opportunities for participation in sports, or any other activity, regardless of gender,” Rosenblum wrote. The district has 15 middle school teams in eight sport: five boys’ teams, eight girls’ teams and two co-ed teams.
In the district’s status report last week, Conrad wrote that “SCASD has demonstrated its compliance and support for the creation of a second Middle School ice hockey team, and will continue to take meaningful steps, within its capacity, in order to facilitate such.”
The parents, though, say that not only has the district made no real headway on a second team, it also made no effort to find alternative ways for the girls to participate in the interim, such as allowing them to practice with the existing team, fill alternate spots or take part in workshops or coaching sessions.
Brooks wrote that the Ice Hockey Club has led “SCASD from Title IX violation to Title IX violation,” suggesting a neutral third party be engaged to administer the club and the relationship with the booster group be terminated.
Going forward, club teams will fall under the athletic department, according to the district. Administrators believe “it is appropriate at this time to reevaluate our club protocols and develop a policy in which we no longer use club advisors,” Rosenblum wrote.
“Rather, we will follow our athletic department practices,” he wrote. “Meaning, our club sports now fall under the athletic department, rather than extracurricular activities procedures. Therefore, the assistant athletic director is now responsible for all club sports teams.”
The district also has shown “complete disregard” for the judge’s order to roster the girls and should be required to compensate the plaintiff’s and show cause for why it should not be held in contempt of court, Brooks added.
“SCASD has utterly failed these girls once again and done so with disdain for the rights of the Plaintiff girls,” Brooks wrote.
