A senior at Grand Junction High School who can’t play volleyball because she didn’t make the varsity team filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the school treats girls differently than boys.
Unlike boys in football, girls don’t have the option of playing on the junior varsity in volleyball if they fail to make the varsity, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.
Jessica Weiker’s lawsuit alleges Mesa County Valley School District No. 51 discriminates against girls, a violation of a federal law known as Title IX that guarantees equal gender access to public education.
An after-hours telephone message left at an answering service for the district was not immediately returned. Weiker’s attorney, Michael Grattan III, also did not return an after- hours telephone message.
Weiker also alleges the school treats girls differently by not offering as many opportunities for sports for girls and provided buses with onboard bathrooms for the football team, while the girls volleyball team travels to games on district-owned vans driven by coaches.
