This year, one change at SHS is at the forefront of many students, parents, and coaches’ minds—the highly anticipated new locker rooms. The dilapidated PE rooms aren’t up to the standards of the athletic department and the rest of the high school. Outdated equipment and a lack of security prompted the administration to review the possibility of a locker room renovation. 

But were there other factors at play? Title IX was passed in 1972, which outlawed discrimination based on gender in education and athletics. This means having two boys’ locker rooms but only one PE locker room for girls put SHS out of Title IX compliance. Inequality in facilities is one of the reasons the fields were recently updated–to promote girls’ softball–which ended up benefiting many other teams. However, the locker room renovations were not a direct result of a Title IX complaint; instead, the SHS administration and athletic department hoped to be proactive and get ahead of any potential issues. According to assistant principal William Luette, the athletic department is “trying to make this a top-of-the-line facility,” and new equitable locker rooms are a vital step in this process. 

In addition to equality, the school is addressing safety concerns over stolen property and vulnerable equipment because of the old boys’ locker room. Having two doors that needed to stay open allowed people to “break in” and steal money or other student property. Locking the doors would take away necessary space for sports equipment and limit access to the restrooms and gym. The space was being used ineffectively and showed signs of damage from water leaks. The new locker rooms were created to be safer and more efficient.  With the renovation, the spaces will also have updated technology.

What will the new spaces look like? They are creating two athletic locker rooms for “sports that need a lot of equipment.” According to Luette, both locker rooms will feature “new bathrooms and a film room in each location.” This will allow coaches to review footage in real-time and save time trying to reserve classroom space for team meetings. The school has been using a program called HUDDLE, which allows students and coaches to create accounts and review footage from new, state-of-the-art cameras. These film rooms will be a fantastic asset to teams that utilize these programs. 

SHS doesn’t have a perfect track record when it comes to gender equality, but these locker rooms are a big step in the right direction. Looking forward, these spaces will be an incredible asset to countless teams and signify a progressive future for the school.