Wall ISD Title IX investigation closed, details shared

SAN ANGELO, Texas ( Concho Valley Homepage ) — The superintendent of Wall ISD has stated that the Office of Civil Rights’ investigation into an alleged instance of Title IX infringement has been closed. Here’s what was being investigated and why the closure occurred.

Wall ISD Superintendent Russell Dacy told Concho Valley Homepage staff that the complaint filed against the district that sparked the investigation was made regarding the campus’ softball field. The softball field doesn’t have lights installed, which is technology that the baseball field does have.

Dacy said that the complainant viewed the softball field’s lack of lights as something that “hindered the access in programming” for Wall’s Lady Hawks softball team. The complaint, being related to the accessibility of boy’s and girl’s athletics programs, thus led the OCR to launch a Title IX investigation on July 22.

“The complainant stated that because we have lights on our baseball field and we don’t have them on the softball field, that our girls are denied access to equal programming,” Dacy said.

According to the U.S. Department of Education , Title IX “protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance,” including protections against issues such as sexual assault, gender discrimination and treatment of LGBTQ students.

Dacy said that the baseball field’s access to lighting does not influence the district’s athletics accessibility, extending this thought to the softball field’s lack of lighting. He also said that the baseball field’s lights were purchased as part of a private fundraiser held by the Wall Hawks baseball team’s parents and not funded by the school district.

“Right now, the lights on the baseball field have no relevancy on our kids’ access to programs,” Dacy said. “Our softball kids are not missing any access to base softball games due to the lack of lights.”

Dacy said that the OCR notified him on Aug. 22 that the complainant had withdrawn their complaint, closing the investigation just one month after it was opened. He stated that the district is willing to make changes to support accessibility to softball should the need arise, however.

“Baseball games take longer, they do move slower sometimes … It was a hindrance, but with softball, we’re not seeing that,” Dacy said. “If this district or board ever does see that, we will certainly address that issue straight forward.”

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