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Students urge Jenkintown SD to keep girls field hockey; board says it will verify numbers and Title IX compliance
Summary
Seventh-grade students presented a petition asking the Jenkintown SD board to preserve the girls field hockey program. Administrators said they will verify roster numbers and explained Title IX reviews focus on overall opportunities for male and female athletes rather than one‑to‑one sport parity.
Seventh-grade students urged the Jenkintown SD board during public comment to preserve the girls field hockey program, saying signups from sixth- and seventh-graders show sufficient interest to sustain the team.
"We went to the sixth grade classrooms ... and we got all of them that were interested for next year to sign this paper," a student told the board, saying the group had collected eight sixth-grade names and additional seventh-grade signups. The students asked the board not to remove field hockey in favor of expanding soccer.
Board members and administrators responded that final decisions turn on confirmed rosters and program viability. The district’s Director (who met with students and coaches) said she had 13 names for varsity field hockey on her desk and that, based on follow-up, some students had signed up for soccer earlier in the year and did not realize they could not play both in the same season. "So I think we just really need to cross our t's and dot our i's with the actual names and bodies," the Director said, and she offered to reconcile the lists and return to the board with verified numbers by February 24.
Superintendent Campbell explained the district assesses Title IX compliance at the level of the total athletic program rather than by matching each boys' team with an identical girls' team. "Title IX compliance is assessed to be a total program comparison," Campbell said, adding the law focuses on access and equitable opportunities across men’s and women’s programs, not mirror-image offerings in each sport.
Board members emphasized program viability and budgetary realities — coaches, referees, buses and equipment all factor into whether a program can run a full season. One board member noted varsity field hockey had 13 players last year and that illnesses and injuries sometimes depleted rosters during a season.
The Director and administration committed to verifying student names and counts and returning with those numbers; the board did not take a final vote during the work session. The students’ presentation prompted the board to schedule follow-up and to include the issue in upcoming agenda work so a staffing and scheduling decision can be made with confirmed participation figures.
