Kershaw County School District cleared in Title IX complaints
Posted: 03.21.2012 at 8:32 AM
The Kershaw County School District has been cleared of accusations that the district denied female students equal access to sporting equipment.
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CAMDEN (WACH) -- The Kershaw County School District has been cleared of accusations that the district denied female students equal access to sporting equipment.

The U.S Department of Education Office for Civil Rights found “insufficient evidence” in two recent Title IX complaints concerning Lugoff-Elgin High School athletics.

“I am extremely gratified with these outcomes and appreciate the professionalism shown by the Office for Civil Rights as the school district responded to these complaints,” says Kershaw County School District Superintendent Frank Morgan. 

“We made a good faith effort to review and address these concerns when they were first raised last year, but unfortunately the family involved never accepted my offer of meeting with them," says Morgan.

OCR’s letter states, “After carefully considering all the information obtained during the investigation, OCR determined that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the school denied female students equal access to coaching, facilities and equipment.” 

Morgan says that the district signed a voluntary resolution agreement outlining reporting requirements that will be made to OCR over the next few years.  

Reports will include information on athletic surveys, student athletic participation, athletic schedules, facility maintenance and athletic expenditures. 

“While I greatly appreciate the employees who have worked countless hours beyond their normal duties to provide over 1,000 pages of documentation to respond to these complaints, I deeply regret that many good and hardworking people including the members of the ABLE Club were needlessly dragged through the mud during this process,” says Morgan.

School officials say Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office also conducted an investigation and they found no evidence of wrongdoing.