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Title IX report: Tooele district examines participation slots, equity and potential sports expansion
Summary
The district’s Title IX report reviewed male–female athletic participation by participation slots rather than roster counts, discussed strategies to increase female participation and weighed whether to add lacrosse; no formal action was taken.
Keith Embiar, the district activities director, presented the Tooele County School District’s Title IX report for 2024–25, which analyzes athletic participation slots, coaching ratios, budgets and facility access across high schools.
Embiar told the board he used participation-slot counts to get a truer picture of opportunity than simple roster head counts. “When you look at that, now you're looking into sports with bigger numbers, which gives probably a bigger truer picture,” Embiar said, citing football as an example of a male roster that can be much larger than a single female team and therefore affect comparisons.
The report found most schools’ male–female participation percentages were close to parity, with some larger discrepancies at individual schools. Embiar described options the district could use to increase female participation, such as making some girls’ teams no-cut, using more targeted recruiting and improving outreach in hallways and feeder programs; he emphasized the legal standard is equitable opportunities rather than identical spending levels.
Board members discussed a request to add lacrosse. Embiar cautioned that lacrosse is currently designated by the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) as a sport where initial interest in the district has been stronger among male athletes than female athletes. He said adding a male lacrosse program now could increase the male–female participation gap unless parallel female interest is developed. “If we add lacrosse and we add 30 more male athletes and we don't add any female athletes, that discrepancy is gonna be larger,” he said.
Board members suggested building interest through clubs, community outreach and pilot programs. One board member cited a local pilot club that had generated some female interest but remained more male-dominated.
Board members also raised staffing and facilities concerns: some schools reported single head coaches covering boys and girls programs or using shared multipurpose spaces for practice. Embiar said coach hiring is often constrained by applicant pools and that some positions remain open until a qualified candidate applies. The board discussed scheduling prime-time game slots, noting some regions are alternating boys’ and girls’ schedules to ensure fair access to evening gym times.
Embiar reminded the board that if the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) were to review the district, the numbers and the district’s documented efforts to provide equitable opportunities would be among the evidence considered. No motion or vote on adding lacrosse or changing programs was recorded.
