Courtesy of the family
A 16-year-old student athlete in Houston, Texas, is demanding—with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union—that her school district answer for discrimination during her time as a top runner on a cross-country team.
In a letter sent to Spring Branch Independent School District leaders, the girls’ family and ACLU attorneys allege that the district’s “biased dress code policy and enforcement” and “unequal treatment” towards girls on the cross country team likely run afoul of the Constitution and Title IX legislation.
The letter alleges that staff at the school district gave lower-quality coaching to the Spring Woods Tigers girls cross-country team, and also enforced a sexist dress code policy by forcing girls to wear shirts in the Texas summer heat while boys were not required to heed the same rules.