Sioux Falls school district claims Title IX test doesn't apply to cutting gymnastics program

The Sioux Falls School District is arguing that a South Dakota court erroneously applied Title IX law when it found the district wasn’t compliant with Title IX’s effective accommodation requirement, according to an appellant reply brief filed in appeals court Thursday afternoon.

The district’s brief is in reply to the amicus brief filed by five civil rights groups in support of gymnasts who sued the district last year for cutting their sport.

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

More: 5 civil rights organizations join Title IX lawsuit in support of Sioux Falls gymnastics

Title IX requires educational institutions provide equal athletic opportunities for students but does not require equal participation among students, the district argues. It also doesn’t require an institution “pour ever-increasing sums into its athletics programs in hopes of achieving equal participation between the sexes,” the district argued.

If it could’ve eliminated its gymnastics program, the district still would’ve provided equal athletic opportunities to its female students, the district argues, adding girls have more sports offerings to choose from than boys, access to all the same sports as males, and “there are no barriers females must overcome to participate in sports that males do not,” the reply states.

The reply also states the district doesn’t cap certain sports, allowing every student the opportunity to participate in district athletics. This statement conflicts with the recent admission that the district is “adjusting male participation” in certain teams.

More: Sioux Falls' school board continues to dodge questions about the cap on boys' sports

The district argues the statistical test the South Dakota court used to find the district out of compliance with Title IX isn’t suitable for school districts, and that the court therefore erred in applying prong one of the Title IX compliance test, which looks at substantial proportionality.

The three-part Title IX participation test from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has been hotly debated throughout this lawsuit process. The five civil rights groups that filed the amicus brief in support of the gymnasts argued last month that it does apply at the high school level, contrary to what the district and other organizations have argued.

Focusing solely on the 7.6% disparity in girls’ sports participation and not considering “the cause of the disparity, the reasonableness of requiring the school to add additional (or in this case, keep) athletic opportunities to eliminate the disparity, or whether the 7.6% disparity was unjustified,” was a failure on the South Dakota court’s part, the district argues in its reply.

The district also argued that it has continuously increased female sports participation opportunities, including increasing the number of female athletes by 31% in the last five years, from 937 in the 2018-2019 school year to 1,229 in the 2022-2023 school year.

But the five civil rights groups argued in their brief that the district failed part one of the test because the district’s 7.6% variance between girls’ enrollment and girls’ participation amounted to 441 girls who could play if there was substantial proportionality.

Because of this, the district argues that the South Dakota court erred in applying prong two, which looks at a history and continuing practice of program expansion. It argues that recent additions of wrestling and softball, with the elimination of gymnastics, resulted in a net gain of 103 female participants.

Regarding part two, the district’s elimination of a viable girls’ team with vibrant interest and ability shows failure to comply with part two, the five civil rights organizations argued in their brief last month.

The district also argues that the South Dakota court erred by not requiring security of $92,000 from plaintiffs when it issued its preliminary injunction against the district, a cost the district said will cover putting on its gymnastics program this year.

“Plaintiffs also argue the size of the requested bond ‘pales in comparison to the entirety of (the district’s) athletic budget,’” the district’s reply brief states. “The size of a defendant’s purse, however, is not a proper consideration for the amount of security to issue.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls schools claims Title IX test doesn't apply to gymnastics