The duties of the coordinator include investigating complaints received against the schools involving noncompliance of the law (3). The coordinator must be up to date with the law as it changes on a regular basis. The coordinator must annually distribute information in regards to the name, address, and telephone number of his or her office. The same information should be passed on to the parents and also posted in the school building. The sports equity coordinator may also be the Title IX coordinator in a school system (4).
The coordinator, along with the school system, must adopt and publish grievance procedures so that an immediate and just resolution can be found for formal complaints brought before the board. The decision must be made within thirty days of receipt of the written complaint, and the complainant must receive a written copy of the decision within five days of the decision (4). The complainant then has thirty-five days to appeal the decision to the state school board.
Once a school has proven it can provide equal athletic opportunities, it must offer "scholarship sports" and those sports that are similar. If a school offers a sport that is similar to a sport that offers scholarships in the University System of Pennsylvania, then the school must also offer the scholarship sport if there is sufficient interest (4). For example, slow-pitch softball is not a scholarship sport, but it is similar to fast-pitch softball, which is a scholarship sport. If a local school system offers slow-pitch and there is enough interest to support a fast-pitch team, then the school must offer fast-pitch as well as slow-pitch softball.
If a school wants or needs to add a new sport, they can find out which sport to add by conducting an athletic interest survey (5). To conduct a survey, at least nine students must request that there be a survey. Surveys can only occur once every twelve months.
