Summary: This bill establishes a Title IX Coordinator position within the Delaware Department of Education responsible for statewide oversight, guidance, and training related to Title IX compliance in public school athletics for grades 6–12. The Coordinator would provide training, develop model policies, analyze statewide athletics data, and issue annual reports on Title IX compliance. School districts and charter schools would also be required to publicly report participation and budget data for boys’ and girls’ athletic programs.

Analysis: Title IX, enacted in 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs receiving federal funding. In the context of athletics, Title IX is commonly associated with ensuring equal participation opportunities and resources for male and female students. It is on the basis of that fairness that SB 215 was introduced, to protect women from being forced to compete alongside and against biological males.

Under the legislation, the Title IX Coordinator would be responsible for:

• Providing annual Title IX training to school district and charter school Title IX coordinators, administrators, athletic directors, and coaches;
• Offering technical assistance and model policies to help schools comply with Title IX requirements;
• Serving as a liaison between Delaware schools and federal agencies regarding Title IX rules and guidance;
• Creating an annual public report summarizing statewide Title IX compliance, training activities, and recommendations.

The bill also requires school districts and charter schools to report and publicly post annual athletics data, including:

• Participation rates by sex in interscholastic and intramural sports;
• Budget information for boys’ and girls’ athletic programs; and
• Any Additional information deemed necessary to evaluate compliance.

If concerns are identified, the Coordinator may provide non-legal guidance or request that schools implement certain plans to improve overall compliance. The Delaware DOE would then work together with the DelawareInterscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) to develop regulations to implement and request any necessary funding.

While the stated purpose of HB 300 is to strengthen compliance oversight and transparency related to athletics participation and funding, establishing a centralized state Title IX oversight role may have a major influence on how issues like what was brought up by SB 215 are handled moving forward. Passage of a bill llike HB 300 would drastically centralize the sort of decisions that would impact issues like fairness in girls sports for the good or the bad on a very large  scale.

The question of how this position will be filled is grossly important to ask, considering how much influence the role would have on sports at the 6th-12th grade level. The legislation gives no indication of what that would look like, conceivably handing the job of filling said role over to the DOE. Though there is to be a collaborative between the Title IX Coordinator and the DIAA in handling federal guidance and Title IX interpretations, we can still expect any resulting changes to be issued statewide rather than a sole district.

Title IX doesn’t need new coordinators to “interpret” it, it needs correct interpretation from those already threatening its relevance in protecting fairness for girls’ athletics.