Legal groups have filed an amicus brief in Sioux Falls Title IX lawsuit. What that means:

The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) and American Sports Council (ASC) have filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit and Title IX complaint the Sioux Falls School District is facing for cutting its gymnastics program from the budget and sports offerings this year.

But their brief isn't in support of the 12 students and 14 parents who sued the district and filed that complaint, nor is it in support of the district. It's seeking reversal.

While the gymnastics season has continued this school year because of a preliminary injunction from a South Dakota judge, the district is seeking to appeal that decision in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals at this time.

The brief from PLF and ASC filed Thursday comes after the district opted to cap boys' sports participation, a move made by administration following the gymnastics lawsuit. The filing asks the appeals court not to affirm the South Dakota court's decision. It also details that the district’s counsel consented to the filing of the proposed amicus brief, while the plaintiffs who support the gymnastics team did not.

PLF is a national public interest law firm focused on fighting government overreach and abuse, while ASC is "the leading organization working for reform of Title IX regulations that have led to the widespread elimination of opportunities for male athletes," according to its website.

PLF and ASC state in the brief that their concern lies in the district court’s holding that a lack of substantial proportionality between the ratio of male and female student-athletes in a school district compared with the ratio of male and female students enrolled in the district is sufficient to warrant a Title IX violation.

The organizations are concerned the district court “so held despite there being no allegations that plaintiffs-appellees were discriminated against on the basis of their sex when the Sioux Falls School District discontinued its gymnastics program,” the brief states.

If the appeals court affirms the South Dakota court’s holding, student-athletes could find their opportunities to participate in sports limited solely in an effort to minimize any lack of proportionality, according to the brief.

More: In appeals court, Sioux Falls School District asks plaintiffs for $92K in 'security'

“ASC and PLF are concerned that such efforts are tantamount to a quota system which is not authorized under Title IX and would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in any event,” the brief states.

Despite there being a 7.6% disparity between the number of female students compared with the number of female athletes in the district, there’s no evidence this disparity is the result of discrimination, the brief states.

ASC and PLF argue this statistics-only view of Title IX is “highly problematic,” that using proportionality to guide decisions isn’t required by Title IX and results in sex-based quotas violating the Equal Protection Clause, that if a 1979 policy interpretation guidance document of Title IX requires school districts to use sex quotas then it’s an invalid agency guidance document, and that the three-part Title IX test doesn’t apply to high school athletics.

Mum’s the word at school board

Sioux Falls School District Board of Education members, confronted in-person by an Argus Leader reporter after the board meeting adjourned Thursday and multiple attempts to reach them by phone and email, continued to refuse to answer questions about whether they knew boys’ sports would be capped before parents spoke out about the change at the Nov. 27 board meeting and whether the issue should be up to the board, not the administration, in a public board meeting and a vote by the school board.

Board president Carly Reiter, vice president Marc Murren and member Dawn Marie Johnson all repeated they wouldn’t comment on the issue because it touches on the pending litigation in the appeals court. Board member Kate Serenbetz walked away from the question. Board member Nan Baker took a phone call.

More: Attorneys, Title IX and transparency experts weigh in on Sioux Falls School District's cap

During the meeting, a parent of a Lincoln High School senior, Kelly Jerstad, spoke during the public comment portion about how the boys’ sports cap is “clearly wrong.”

Her son, who is on the track team could be affected by it, she said after the meeting, explaining she’s heard from a coach in the district who estimated the cut could be as high as 50 student athletes on that team alone.

“I suspect that everyone in this room thinks that cutting participation in boys’ school sports is a bad thing, and no one here is in favor of taking opportunity away from our public school boys, including our superintendent,” Jerstad said.

Jerstad quoted the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in her comments, noting its stance that “nothing in Title IX requires the cutting or reduction of teams in order to demonstrate compliance with Title IX.”

She said the move could open up the district to further litigation, as groups like PLF are reaching out to those affected.

She added the move to cap boys’ sports will likely disproportionately affect students of a lower socioeconomic status who need to be part of a team the most.

Jerstad also criticized the fact that the board and district have “been mum” on this important policy change, and that administration, teachers and coaches are forbidden to speak publicly on the topic.

“To temporarily cut boys’ participation numbers, even if the goal is to eventually build them back up, would affect the lives of these boys forever,” Jerstad said.

District officials have repeatedly refused to give hard details about how the decision was made to cap boys' sports, which teams will be affected and when more details could be released. They've also refused to cite which policy allowed the decision affecting the district's taxpayer-funded budget to be made solely by district administration and not by its elected board which is charged with the responsibility of balancing and approving that budget.

More: Sioux Falls schools limiting boys' sports participation numbers this year due to Title IX

Instead of answering specific questions, district community relations coordinator DeeAnn Konrad has continously pointed toward statements she sent on behalf of the district, stating district officials would not be commenting further on the matter.

"Given these legal actions, and the ongoing litigation, neither administration nor coaches will be granting interviews on this topic," Konrad wrote to the Argus Leader. "The statement provided last week will be our only communication at this time."

That statement released Nov. 29, in part, said the district "ultimately seeks clarification through a ruling on the relevance of Title IX guidance and the ability of school districts to make programmatic decisions for high school activities and athletics programs."

The district intends to work toward full compliance with Title IX while the courts and the Office of Civil Rights continue their work, Konrad said in that statement from Nov. 29 and a similar one Dec. 1, noting the preliminary injunction decision “highlighted the disparity within the district between the number of male athletes compared to female athletes.”

Despite the district’s opaqueness, the Argus Leader has independently verified that boys’ tennis teams at Roosevelt High School will be capped at 20 athletes.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: New players involved in Sioux Falls School District Title IX lawsuit