(1)
Definitions.
(a)
Bona fide survey - survey
approved by the department which measures the interest of eligible students at
a school to field a team in a particular athletic activity or sport and which
complies with generally accepted opinion survey principles regarding neutral
wording. Eligible students are those students reasonably anticipated to be
enrolled at a school at the time an additional sport may be offered. The
Athletic Interest Survey in Appendix A shall be considered a bona fide
survey.
(b)
Interscholastic
athletics - any athletic activity or sport that involves competition
between teams representing two or more schools.
(c)
Intramural athletics - any
athletic activity or sport that involves competition between teams in the same
school.
(d)
Participant
- a member on the official roster of an interscholastic or intramural
activity or sport who participated in team practices and was eligible for
participation.
(e)
Scholarship sport - an athletic activity or sport for which an
institution in the University System of Georgia offers a full or partial
scholarship, based on athletic ability.
(f)
Sports equity coordinator -
individual designated by the local school system pursuant to O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315(h).
(2)
Requirements.
(a)
Gender Equity Policy. Local
boards of education shall adopt a policy or policies to ensure that no student
shall, on the basis of gender, be excluded from participation in, be denied the
benefits of, be treated differently from another student, or otherwise be
discriminated against in any interscholastic or intramural athletics offered by
such local school system, and such local school system shall not provide any
such athletics separately on such basis. A sample gender equity policy is
included in the
Gender Equity in Sports Resource Manual.
1. The policy shall include a procedure for
accepting or rejecting all donations of services or items, including booster
club support, to any athletic program.
2. Local boards of education shall annually
notify its students of such policy. A sample notice is included in the
Gender Equity in Sports Resource Manual.
(b)
Interest Survey for Intramural and
Interscholastic Activities.
1. A local
school system that elects to conduct a bona fide survey, in accordance with
O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315(f)(3),
shall utilize the Athletic Interest Survey in accordance with instructions in
Appendix A or shall submit an alternate survey to the department for approval.
(i) If a local school system elects to submit
an alternate survey for approval, it shall submit such survey at least 60 days
prior to the date it intends to conduct the survey and shall provide the name
and phone number of the individual who is available to respond to questions
pertaining to such survey.
(ii) The
results of this survey shall be valid for 24 months, unless a new bona fide
survey is conducted within the 24 month period. A local school system shall
conduct a bona fide survey at the request of nine students at the school, but
no more frequently than once every 12 months. However, if a local board of
education has a policy against offering interscholastic or intramural sports in
certain grades for members of both genders, the local school system shall not
be required to conduct an interest survey in those grades.
2. A local school system shall tally by
gender the results of a bona fide survey to determine potential interest in
various sports. A sample tally sheet is included in the Gender Equity
in Sports Resource Manual.
(c)
Informational Meeting. A
local school system shall conduct an informational meeting if the results of
the bona fide survey indicate enough potential interest in a specific sport to
field a team, as determined by the local school system. The informational
meeting shall be conducted so as to provide information to parents and students
specific to such sport, such as length and dates of season, time required for
practices and competitions, travel time to competitions, possible costs to
participants, and other pertinent topics, as well as to provide feedback
information to the school to gauge actual interest in such sport.
(d)
Use of Results of Interest Survey
and Informational Meeting.
1. Based on
the results of the bona fide survey and the informational meeting, the local
school system shall determine whether there is sufficient interest to field a
team in a particular sport.
2. A
local school system shall not be required to field a team at a school in a
particular athletic activity or sport if:
(i)
there is insufficient interest at that school to support intramural teams;
or
(ii) there is insufficient
interest at that school to support an interscholastic team; or
(iii) there are no interscholastic teams
participating in such sport with which to compete.
3. A local school system shall sponsor an
interscholastic team in a scholarship sport at a particular school if such
school currently sponsors an athletic activity or sport that is similar to the
scholarship sport, unless there is insufficient interest.
4. A local school system shall field a team
in a particular athletic activity or sport at a school where there is
sufficient interest for such a team if equal opportunities for participation in
that school are not available to both genders in interscholastic or intramural
athletic activities or sports based on factors listed in O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315(c) and
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
(i) If there is sufficient interest at a
particular school to field teams in multiple sports for one gender, the local
school system shall only be required to field such teams at that school which
would ensure equal opportunities for participation at that school by each
gender based on factors listed in O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315(c) and
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
(e)
Compliance Report.
1. Each local school system shall complete a
School System Compliance Report on Gender Equity in Sports as included in the
Gender Equity in Sports Resource Manual for the previous
academic year regarding its compliance with O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315. Local school systems
shall refer to the Gender Equity in Sports Resource Manual for
guidance on completing the report.
2. Each local school system shall submit such
report to the department by August 30 of each year.
3. If a school system does not submit the
compliance reports in accordance with this section, the department's report to
the General Assembly shall reflect that such system did not adhere to reporting
requirements in this rule.
(f)
Records Retention. Local
school systems shall maintain all records related to compliance with this rule
and O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315, including surveys, tally
sheets, and complaints in accordance with state and local records retention
schedules, but in no event less than five (5) years from the date of such
record.
(g)
Appeals to State
Board of Education. All appeals to the State Board of Education
regarding compliance of a local school system with O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315 shall be conducted in
accordance with O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315 and O.C.G.A. §
20-2-1160.
APPENDIX A
Instructions for Administering and Analyzing the
Athletic Interest Survey
Georgia Department of Education
Prior to conducting a survey:
Before making copies of the survey, enter the school name and
the date the survey will be administered. In addition, if the school wishes to
measure level of interest in a sport which is not listed, the school may
include the sport(s) in the blank labeled "Other".
To whom the survey should be
administered:
Distribute the survey to all students in your school who are
reasonably anticipated to be enrolled at the school when additional sports may
be offered. For instance, if the survey is administered in the spring, it may
be desirable to include students from feeder schools who will probably be
attending the school the following year. Similarly, if the survey is
administered in the spring, it would be reasonable to exclude the seniors from
the survey, as all or most of these students would not be enrolled the
following year. However, if the survey is administered in the fall, the seniors
could be included in the survey to determine interest in athletic activities or
sports that may potentially be offered in the spring.
How to administer the survey:
Remind students that they are not to put their names or any
identifying information on the survey. Additionally, the students should be
reminded to provide honest answers and that their participation in the survey
is important, as the survey will be used to help plan athletic activities for
the future. However, the students should be reminded that they will not be
required to try out for a team in a sport in which they express interest if the
sport is added at a later date. Students may check as many sports as they
wish.
How to tally the survey
responses:
Once the surveys have been collected, consider contacting
your system office for assistance in analyzing the data. System-level personnel
may be able to enter and analyze the data for you, particularly if they have a
department or person responsible for research, evaluation, or
assessment.
When reviewing the surveys, look for responses that seem
unusual. For example, surveys on which students have expressed an interest in
every sport, may not have been completed truthfully and carefully and may need
to be eliminated from your data set. Any surveys eliminated from the data set
must be retained in the school or school system's records with the rest of the
survey information and must contain a written explanation attached to such
survey stating why the survey was eliminated from the data set.
Separate the surveys by gender. Additionally, they may be
separated by grade, if desired. Tally the results of the surveys by gender.
Based on the results, determine whether there is enough potential interest in a
specific sport to conduct an informational meeting. Based on the results of the
bona fide survey and the informational meeting, the local school system shall
determine whether there is sufficient interest to field a team in a particular
sport.
How to analyze the tally
results:
The school must comply with O.C.G.A. §
20-2-315 and State Board Rule
160-5-1-.20 Gender Equity in Sports
when analyzing these results and determining whether an additional sport should
be offered.
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