Hawaii education officials on Friday agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by female athletes at the state’s biggest public high school alleging widespread and systemic sex discrimination, as well as retaliation against the girls who raised those concerns. The lawsuit filed by the athletes and their families from James Campbell High School, located in Ewa Beach, a Honolulu suburb, had accused school officials of forcing water polo athletes to practice in the ocean, sometimes battling whipping winds and choppy waves, because the school had failed to provide them a pool. Closer to campus, female athletes had to run to a nearby Burger King to use the bathroom, or change clothes under the bleachers or on the bus. The case was notable because much of the attention with Title IX has focused on opportunities for women to participate in college sports, while high school programs were seldom challenged. First filed in 2018, after Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit newsroom, detailed gender disparities at Campbell, the case gained momentum in July 2022, when a federal judge ruled that the case could proceed as a class action.

---

Persons: James, IX, Campbell Organizations: James Campbell High School, Honolulu Civil Locations: Hawaii, Ewa Beach, Honolulu, Burger