Fayetteville board settles softball lawsuit

FAYETTEVILLE -- High school softball players will have access to bullpens and dugouts equivalent to those used by the baseball program by the end of the school year.

Within five years, the School District will build a climate-controlled indoor hitting facility at the softball complex twice the size of the current indoor facility, according to an agreement the School Board approved to settle a 17-month-old lawsuit filed by parents of three Fayetteville High School softball players.

Fayetteville School Board

• President: Justin Eichmann

• Vice President: Traci Farrah

• Secretary: Nika Waitsman

• Member: Megan Hurley

• Member: Susan Heil

• Member: Tim Hudson

• Member: Bob Maranto

Source: Staff report

The School Board also on Monday night voted not to build a school on land in Goshen known as Hissom Farms, land donated by the Ronny J. Hissom Trust in March 2007.

The donation required the district to construct an elementary school by March 2017. The board last spring had considered a proposal to build a small campus to house its virtual charter school, but costs could reach up to $2 million, Superintendent Matthew Wendt said. The board's decision means the land will return to the family's ownership.

A demographic study will be completed in the spring to inform School District administration in understanding the need for school construction and the location of those schools, Wendt said.

The agreement to resolve the Title IX lawsuit over the softball program came after hours of conversations between Wendt and the parents focusing on the future of the softball program, he said.

The lawsuit was filed in July 2015 by parents of Fayetteville High School softball players -- Chris Ezell, James and Donna Lyles, and Wes Mabry -- over an "imbalance of the treatment of female and male athletes" in the district. The parents claimed the differences were in violation of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in any education program activity that receives federal money.

Neither party admits fault, liability or violation of the law, the agreement states.

But the conversations were in the interest of ensuring both male and female athletes have great experiences in the district, Wendt said. The monetary requests from the families were removed, aside from the district paying attorney's fees and costs to the law firm representing the parents.

"We didn't spend much time on the issue of males versus females," Wendt said. "I didn't find any evidence anyone was wanting to harm or not support a program based on gender."

This fall, the girls volleyball team and the boys football team both won state championships, he said. The boys and girls cross country teams were runners up for state championships.

The meetings provided Wendt with encouragement and motivation for wanting to meet the high expectation parents have for their daughters, he said.

School Board member Tim Hudson said he appreciated the focus on resolving the case in a way best for students and the district.

The district and families were able to settle the lawsuit because of an alignment of interests, School Board President Justin Eichmann said. They reached broad agreement on a number of topics.

Excellence is the expectation in Fayetteville, Eichmann said.

"What that means in any discreet part of academics, extra-curricular activities or athletics, we need to be always improving," Eichmann said. "We can't be afraid to stop and say, 'We can do better.'"

NW News on 12/06/2016

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