Camas staff weigh adding girls flag football to close Title IX gap; boosters and ASB pledged seed funds

Camas School District athletics staff told the board at a May 12 workshop that the district currently meets Title IX’s proportionality test but sees seasonal participation swings and hopes a new girls flag football offering could reduce the district’s participation gap.

An athletics staff member summarized the Title IX framework: “There’s a 3‑pronged test” for compliance, he said, adding that courts and practice use a roughly 5‑percentage‑point threshold as a working guide. “We are within that 5% right now,” he told the board, and the district’s calculated participation gap stood at about −2.78 percentage points on the staff worksheet. Staff noted seasonal shifts — for example, a larger boys turnout for track this year pushed a post‑winter gap toward 1.63 percentage points before the current tally.

District staff described a push at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) to add girls flag football as a sanctioned sport; the WIAA’s process required roughly 60% of member schools to approve adding a sport. Locally, staff reported 96 schools voiced interest in the new offering and noted successful pilot programs in the Seattle‑Tacoma area and in Kelso. The staff presentation said flag football could be scheduled as a winter sport, where girls participation numbers have historically been lower, and could materially reduce Camas’s Title IX gap: “If you added 40 girls to those numbers, it takes our gap all the way down to 0.9,” the athletics staff member said.

Cost, funding and logistics

Athletics staff proposed a model intended to minimize district operating costs in year one. They estimated about $15,000 in one‑time startup costs for equipment and uniforms, most of which they expect to cover with booster, ASB and grant funding; the ASB had already committed $7,500 at the meeting. Staff reported typical grants from the Seattle Seahawks at about $4,000–$5,000 and described NFL and Seahawks grant opportunities that can be used for stipends, transportation and coaches’ pay where other booster/ASB rules limit spending.

Transportation and stipends were flagged as remaining costs. Staff estimated worst‑case local transportation for a nine‑date (18‑game double‑header) schedule at about $5,000 for the season and proposed creative stipend models and grant applications to avoid major district commitments. The recommended first‑year roster cap discussed was roughly 40 players and two paid coaches (head and assistant), noting that numbers would drive exact staffing.

Coach training, compliance and safety

Athletics staff described required training and certification: WIAA and NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) modules for concussion management, sudden cardiac event response, CPR/first aid, sport‑specific safety certifications (for example, USA Tackling certification for tackle football) and a coaching‑principles training that must be completed prior to a coach’s third year. “We track all that and we make sure that everybody’s completed the trainings they need to and that everybody’s in compliance,” one staff member said, describing the district’s use of the FinalForms system to track certifications.

The district also previewed a new coaches handbook and seasonal preseason training that will include medical, legal, social‑emotional and equity topics, plus sport‑specific certifications. Staff said they would continue to offer coach education funds from ASB to help cover conference or clinic registration fees.

Community response and next steps

Board members and staff said student interest appears strong in the district’s PE classes and that regional schools reported large first‑year rosters in pilots. Staff said they plan to pursue grant funding from NFL and Seahawks programs, use booster and ASB funds, cap initial participation, and seek to run the program with minimal district general fund support. They also discussed outreach to community clubs that use district fields to align expectations and possible lease conditions requiring basic coach training for outside groups.

No formal board action was taken at the workshop; staff said they would continue grant applications and return with details as plans firmed up.