On Jan. 29, USD 497 Superintendent Dr. Rick Doll received a letter from the American Civil Liberties stating that the new LEAP Ambassador Program violates Title IX.

Title IX states that the school may not separate or exclude individuals from educational programs and activities solely based on their sex.

The program was initiated in attempt to increase graduation rates of male students of different races and ages. In the letter, however, Doug Bonney, Chief Counsel and Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas stated that, “in excluding female students from the mentoring initiative, the Ambassador Program does significant harm to the female students at Free State High School.”

On Thursday, Feb. 19, the ACLU met with the school district to discuss possible changes to the program in order to reinstate it. Principal Ed West, however, said he was not in a position to comment on the issue.

In response to the meeting, on  Wednesday, Feb. 25, USD 497 released a statement that the program will now include females. In the statement, Doll says that since boys were not graduating at the same rate as girls, the goal of the program was to “try a strategy to engage boys in their education, not to exclude girls.” From this point forward, however, any Ambassador activities will include females.

Below is a copy of the ACLU’s letter to Doll and the press release from the district.