C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge is under investigation by federal officials for sex discrimination.
Why? Well, their baseball field has a $50,000 press box, a locker room, concession stand and an in-field irrigation system, according to the Washington Post. Their softball field? A faded wood shed and a port-a-potty.
"There are so many things that field is in lack of," Robin Dougalewicz, whose daughter is on the junior varsity softball team, told the Post. "The county doesn't seem to want to do anything there. . . . It's not fair to the girls."
The school is being investigated for possible violations of Title IX, according to the paper. Under this law, any educational program that receives federal funding is required to provide equal opportunities and facilities for boys and girls.
School officials said that the press box and the concession stand were paid for in the mid-1990s by a grant from the Cecil and Irene Hylton Foundation.
But even though the school didn’t pay for the facilities, they can still constitute a Title IX violation. The law applies to what's available, not where it came from.
Prince William school officials said they have worked to improve softball fields across the county, according to the Post. About $2 million has been spent to install lighting at county softball fields, the dugouts have been enlarged at Hylton, and better soil has been spread on the infield.
