A school board in Little Rock, Ark., has floated a compromise amid softball player complaints that their field doesn't match the quality of a new $5 million synthetic turf field built for the baseball team and thus represents a potential Title IX violation.
As reported by local CBS affiliate KTHV, board members voted last week to have Central High School's softball and baseball teams practice on the baseball field as a short-term solution to comply with Title IX, but parents had questions as to the cost of converting the field.
"How much would it cost for a portable 300- to 400-foot outfield fence? What will a backstop wall along the bases cost?" a parent asked at the recent Little Rock School District board meeting.
"No details have been provided about the feasibility and the cost of physically converting the field."
The district acknowledged the off-campus field the girls' softball team uses is in need of maintenance attention, which they promised to look into, as well as eventual field replacement.
Superintendent Jermall Wright suggested patience is required. "While we do not know how long the short-term option will be in place, we have repeatedly communicated that it will take multiple years to identify a site for the new softball facility, determine a funding source and construct the facility," Wright said, as reported by KTHV's Tanya Modersitzki. "That will take longer than one school year."
Board members approved the compromise plan for the upcoming school year, but softball parents have concerns about what that will look like.
"Once the season starts, nobody practices because there's games every day, we're on the road more, and cut our home games in half," another parent said.
In an attempt to assuage those concerns, Wright said the district athletics director is working with the school's athletics director to coordinate scheduling.
