By Lynn Janes

The Silver City Consolidated Schools held a special meeting on December 14, 2023. Members in attendance included Ashley Montenegro and Patrick Cohn. Superintendent William Hawkins also attended. Michelle Diaz, Mike McMillan, and Eddie Flores did not attend.

Sally Marquez, New Mexico Athletic Association (NMAA) director came to the meeting to present to the board what title 9 entailed and answer any questions the audience or board had.

Montenegro said they had a lot of questions about it and Marquez would be open to questions after the presentation.

Marquez said title 9 had become a lot more than it had been in the past. It now includes sexual harassment and more. For today she would only be addressing the athletic part. "We do not govern title 9 in New Mexico, and we are an association and are service oriented and not a compliance office."

She stressed the difference between equivalence and equitable. Title 9 requires them to look at equivalence. Equivalence does not always mean something will be equitable.

The benefits, opportunities, and treatment of each gender must be equal in effect. They cannot have any disparity between boys and girls programs. It is not about the money spent completely.

They have to keep track of the participation numbers because the participation has to be proportionate to the percentages of students and should reflect the enrollment. They have to look at how many have been participating in the sports programs and they can't have more than a 3 percent disparity. If the number of students comes to 50 percent girls and 50 percent boys, you must have participation in sports be 50/50. If this does not happen, you have to see what you can do to meet the needs of the students to get more participation.

Many of the complaints the association receives come from the coaches. When a complaint has been made the office of civil rights comes in and looks at all the schools in the district.

At the end of the year the district will need to look at any disparities and see where they need to make changes. They can expand the sports opportunities to try and fix the problems of participation. Survey the kids to see what they need to offer to get more participation. They need to assess why the kids have not come out to participate. She again stressed that it did not need to be equal but equitable.

Marquez addressed the source of funds and that it didn't matter where they came from, they all fell under title 9. All the programs must have equal access to comparable benefits and service. She said currently FFA (Future Farmers of America) has not been included in the title 9 but they needed to be watching because eventually it would. Also, currently activities have not been included.

All money sources count. She named off booster clubs, legislative funding, fundraising, parents, business donations, grants, gate receipts and in kind donations.

An example she gave had to do with receiving funding for a new field for one sport but not for another. "You may need to hold on to that until funds to do the other field have been obtained so it is equitable. If one sport has done a lot of fundraising, they may not be able to use all that money because it would not be equitable to the other sports. Many times, those that fundraise in the fall do well and those in the spring don't because the businesses they all go to have already spent their budget. She suggested doing a big fundraiser and dividing it between all. She brought up travel and making sure that has been equitable between all the sports. "You can't have the football team getting steaks and the girls team getting McDonalds."

Hawkins and Michelle McCain, finance director, had some questions about the trust accounts they had for each sports team and their use for food and swag. Marquez said, "It just needs to be equitable." She gave an example of banquets and how those needed to be equitable. They needed to look at where they will be held and what they will be serving. Is it equitable?

Marquez brought up coaches and their compensation, salary or volunteer and was the player coach ratio the same. Volunteers can cause that balance to tip. She pointed out that cross country has been a place the NMAA has seen problems. She went further to say they had to make sure they had a balance when it came to program areas, practice times, game schedules, publicity, support services, equipment, and supplies. She urged them to think about it as a scale and keeping it balanced. She gave them some examples.

She pointed out that several of the problems they had seen had to do with locker rooms, lockers, and practice areas. The office of civil rights has gone as far as checking shower pressure in all areas to assure everyone had the same pressure. She had also seen problems with booster clubs, donations, and fundraisers even if they have been a 501c3.

To better explain the difference between equitable and equal she asked them to think about it like they would their kids. Maybe the gift they gave one of them had not cost the same but the gifts they gave them were equitable.

Having polices in place would be the best way to monitor the programs and keep them equitable. The School Athletic Equity Act (SAEA) has been regulated by PED (Public Education Department) and not the NMAA. Each school shall operate its program in a manner that does not discriminate against students or staff on the basis of gender. Every August each district must turn in a report to PED. The numbers have to be equitable. A women's law firm in Albuquerque has been looking for schools to sue on this information.

Montenegro asked how to handle the money coming from the booster clubs. Marquez told them the money needs to be channeled through the district and they need to realize the money does not belong to them. "The school determines where the money will be spent." Private funding is permissible but must be equitable. The example Marquez gave had to do with a business doing a raffle for a team. "You have to know what it is; they are using your name."

Marquez said everyone must be treated the same and the district needs to monitor it all.

Hawkins asked how things had been going with fan behavior. Marquez said they had three fights, but NMAA had not had to do any strikes against the schools involved. The coaches have been doing well at keeping things settled down. They have been dealing with the parents individually to keep it controlled and not affecting the team. They did have one strike and it all had to do with posts on social media. "We have to change the culture."

Adjourned.