Student alleges bias over dress code

Track star says Spring Branch ISD is guilty of selective enforcement, gender inequity

A Spring Woods High School student and member of the girls cross-country and track teams aspired to run collegiately, but after alleged discriminatory treatment from her coaches and Spring Branch Independent School District employees, she’ll hang up her training shoes after graduation.

Concerns raised by the female student over dress code enforcement and gender inequities within Spring Branch ISD’s athletics program prompted the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas to send an advocacy letter Wednesday to the district.

“The difference in dress code for boys and girls really reflects harmful and outdated gender stereotypes and sends a message that girls’ bodies are inherently shameful or vulgar and need to be regulated more than boys,” Liza Davis, a legal fellow at the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, said.

G.H., the 16-year-old junior named in the letter, claimed her cross-country coach prohibited her from running in a sports bra but allowed her male counterparts to run shirtless.

“It was a longstanding and common practice for all athletes to run shirtless during summer outdoor practices when temperatures average over 90 degrees and often exceed 100 degrees,” the letter states.

When G.H. questioned her coach about the dress code, he told her the high school’s principal, Jennifer Collier, was responsible for the policy’s enforcement. G.H. later asked Collier about the policy, and she said the girls could run in sports bras.

Prior to G.H. rejoining practices in early summer 2022, coaches allowed both girls and boys to run shirtless, according to the letter. Once G.H. returned to practice in July 2022, the coaches told girls to wear shirts.

G.H.’s parents sent emails to the school asking about the recent change in policy, but a few days later, a district employee held a meeting with athletic trainers and announced that all indoor and outdoor athletes — except those doing water sports — are required to wear shirts because “it’s inappropriate to be showing skin as a high school student.”

A district employee further justified the new policy at a cross-country parent informa

tion meeting by saying that he didn’t want “any boobs, butts, or bellies out,” according to the advocacy letter.

Keep that shirt on

Days after the policy change, G.H. spotted a male runner take off his shirt due to the extreme summer heat. After seeing the boy not get reprimanded, she decided to take her shirt off and finish the workout in a sports bra. Coaches immediately yelled at G.H. and demanded she put a shirt on, the letter states.

G.H. told the coaches about the boy not wearing a shirt for most of the workout, but they only made him put one on after telling her to.

“Nobody was really taking me seriously throughout the school district,” G.H. told the Chronicle during an interview this week. “This was a very important topic to discuss, especially in track and field and cross-country. You need to have a comfortable running experience, you can’t just wear something that’s not going to be helpful with the weather, especially in Texas.”

In a statement provided Thursday, Spring Branch ISD

denied any discrimination and said it “treats students equally and fairly.”

“We are aware of the situation with one student at one of our high schools who is dissatisfied with SBISD practices, which are applied to all athletes at that campus,” the statement said. “SBISD is currently investigating this matter.”

Running track is something G.H. has “always loved,” even going back to when she would watch her dad coach other kids.

“I don’t want to run in college anymore because of the stuff I had to deal with,” G.H. said.

G.H. planned on attending a number of historically Black colleges, including Texas Southern University, Howard University and Florida A&M University.

A ‘teaching moment’

G.H. approached the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas about her concerns because she hopes her experience is a “teaching moment for everybody” and brings awareness to girls in similar positions.

“I hope that this makes them feel more comfortable and know that it’s OK to speak out,” she said. “You’re not going to be in trouble for it, even though it might feel like you’re being targeted after.”

Aside from the dress code policy change, the ACLU and G.H. want the girls to have the same higher mileage workouts boys receive and for race to not be a component in any unfair mistreatment going forward. G.H. is the only Black runner on her high school’s girls crosscountry and track teams and said she felt unheard.

“We believe that no student should be mistreated, ignored or dismissed because they have chosen to speak up and speak out for their rights,” Davis said.

The next steps include meeting with Spring Branch ISD officials and hopefully embarking on a partnership to confront the issues outlined in the letter head-on, according to Davis.

“We’re hoping the district will do the right thing and take steps to change its policies and practices in these areas,” she said.

Seeing results from advocacy letters vary depending on how receptive the school district is, Linda Morris, a staff attorney for the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, said. Despite this, the ACLU hopes this matter is “resolved promptly,” she said.

“I don’t want other girls in the district to deal with what I had to,” G.H. said.