When a California School District began hearing complaints from a large group of parents and a Legal Aid Law Center alleging significant Title IX issues – the federal law that requires schools to provide equal access to academic and athletic opportunities for all students, regardless of gender – at the high school as related to male and female locker rooms, the Superintendent retained the services of EKA.

The firm was hired to design a communication program to address the issues and avoid potentially costly litigation. EKA advised the Superintendent to personally inspect the facilities, with a few parents, to assess the needs and viability for upgrades.   The EKA communication plan included and overview and outline of changes the school would make to achieve Title IX compliance. In addition, EKA worked with the District to publicly announce the new women’s locker room makeover as well as to highlight four new girls’ sports at the school which included water polo, golf, tennis, and soccer.

The plan to proactively inform the community that all the students had equal access to facilities and an equal opportunity to participate in sports demonstrated that the District was committed to Title IX.  The plan worked and costly litigation was avoided.