Feds
investigate P'burg sports
Checking
on gender equity. Questions if girls get treated as well as boys.
Federal law requires it.
Monday, March 19,
2007 • By DANIEL HAUSMANN • The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | The federal Office for Civil Rights is investigating whether girls in the Phillipsburg School District have equal opportunities in athletics. U.S. Department of Education spokesman Jim Bradshaw confirmed through e-mail the investigation has been ongoing since a complaint was filed Dec. 3. Bradshaw wrote the investigation centers on "Specifically, locker rooms, practices and competitive facilities, training and coaching staff, medical and training facilities, financial assistance, publicity, athletic housing and dining facilities and support services." A copy of the complaint could not be obtained Friday. The school district also has an outside law firm conducting an internal investigation on the Title IX issues, a federal act that ensures equal gender opportunity in education. Superintendent Gordon Pethick said that investigation started in January and would not say what prompted it. School board Athletic Committee Chairman Sal Patti said he's been following this issue since he joined the board. Patti, a retired athletic director with Voorhees High School, said he noticed the alleged inequities and brought them up last summer. "It all has to do with fairness," Patti said. Among Patti's concerns: -- The difference in pay for the high school baseball and softball coaches. -- The lack of a middle school softball program. -- Cheerleading coaches getting one stipend for two seasons. -- The lack of a high school girls head track coach. According to the district's athletic stipend guide, the baseball coach gets $5,499 and the softball coach gets $4,732. Both coaches get $60-per-year in longevity pay. Stipends are part of the negotiated teachers contract. "That's wrong; it's illegal and wrong," Patti said, referring to the stipends. Pethick said the disparity in pay has two explanations: the baseball coach oversees more teams and the stipend rate was negotiated into the last teachers contract. Pethick said in education and athletics there is no discrimination. "We've always had equal pay for the sexes," Pethick said. One reason the softball coach has fewer responsibilities is because there is no middle school softball team. Phillipsburg Athletic Director Tom Fisher said there is no middle school team because of a conflict between a middle school season and community softball seasons. "We don't want to be in competition for kids," Fisher said. Middle school baseball season, however, ends before community leagues start in May. That explanation doesn't satisfy Patti; he said the program should be offered anyway. "If you don't get enough kids to come out at least you did what you were supposed to," Patti said. As for the track issue, "they (boys and girls) are not getting the same opportunity to be coached," Patti said. Fisher said his department is working to establish a girls coaching staff. Pethick asked whether there's a Title IX violation "if the boys and girls have an equal opportunity to participate under the coach?" On the issue of the cheerleading coach, Pethick said the district considers the fall and winter seasons as one for cheerleading. The cheerleading coach receives a $6,366 base stipend plus $80-per-year in longevity pay. That number is identical to the wrestling and basketball head coaches. The band director gets slightly more in base stipend at $6,519.50, but less in longevity pay at $50-per-year. Pethick declined to comment on the federal investigation. He said the board should have the results of the district's investigation in a few weeks, which so far has cost $60,000. "We're hoping to get some input on where we stand and what might need to be corrected," Pethick said. Board member and fellow athletic Committeeman Jim Hanisak agrees with Patti. Hanisak said the internal and federal investigations could have been avoided. "I don't understand why nothing has been done yet," Hanisak said. "We're spending more money we don't have on this internal investigation."
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