When Grand Junction’s Jessica Wieker failed to make the varsity volleyball team her senior year, she tried what some senior football players do: play junior varsity.
But because her school said a senior volleyball player couldn’t play JV, Wieker filed a lawsuit in U.S. District court Monday. The lawsuit asserts the Mesa County Valley School District fails to comply with Title IX regulations by not offering girls the same opportunities as boys.
Wieker, who played volleyball at the school her first three years, was cut from the varsity volleyball team in August. The school then told her she could not play on the junior varsity team because she was a senior, the lawsuit states.
When Wieker complained, saying senior boys are allowed to play JV football, the district investigated but found nothing wrong, according to the lawsuit.
“It has more to do with the overall climate of girls’ athletics,” Wieker’s attorney, Michael Grattan III, said Tuesday.
After being cut from the volleyball team, Wieker filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, and her mother, Deb Wieker, contacted the Colorado High School Activities Association. At that point, Grattan obtained school district records of girls’ participation numbers, he said.
According to the lawsuit, those numbers show more than 150 more boys played sports last year in the district than girls, a 10 percent difference. The trend of more boys participating dates back at least since 2000, according to the suit.
Title IX law requires a school meet one part of a three- pronged test in proving it offers equal opportunity. Those tests question whether participation between boys and girls is equal, or whether that school strives to offer enough opportunity.
“It’s basically a numbers game,” Grattan said. “They’re not in compliance with federal law. Read the numbers; those numbers bear it out.”
The lawsuit states that girls’ participation in the district is not, but should be, within a 1.5 percent proportion to the boys. But according to the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education, there is no specific quota or percentage a school must meet.
Rhonda Blanford-Green, CHSAA assistant commissioner and its Title IX liaison, said the Mesa Valley County District “has been very diligent in creating an equitable atmosphere.”
But Blanford-Green also said that if a school is above a 5 percent difference in participation between boys and girls, a “red flag” should be raised.
District spokesperson Jeff Kirtland said Tuesday neither he nor the school district’s attorneys have seen the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also says Wieker was discriminated against based on her age. The suit says the school unfairly kept her from an opportunity to play volleyball because she was a senior, while senior boys are allowed to play football.
Grand Junction AD Johnnie Walker said that on occasion, some senior boys are allowed to play JV football. It is not common for schools to allow seniors to play at the JV level, but it’s not unheard of, CHSAA commissioner Bill Reader said.
Wieker seeks a trial by jury, and damages allowed by law.
