Students at 13 Northern Kentucky high schools won't be allowed to play sports if their schools don't finish a state report on gender equity in athletics by mid-October.

        The reports, on compliance with federal Title IX regulations, were due in June. But more than one-third of the state's high schools still haven't turned in everything, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association said Friday.

        Schools now have until Oct. 17 or some football seasons will see an early end, including that of the reigning state football champs at Highlands High School in Fort Thomas.

        “Those football seasons will be over. There won't be a choice,” said Louis Stout, commissioner of the athletic association, which oversees high school sports. “They weren't in here by the deadline. ... I have no sympathy for these schools.”

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Thirteen Northern Kentucky high schools could lose their eligibility to play sports for not completing a state report on gender equity in their athletic programs. The following schools have until Oct. 17 to comply:    Boone County High School    Campbell County High School    Conner High School    Covington Latin School    Dixie Heights High School    Highlands High School    Holmes High School    Lloyd High School    Ludlow High School    Ryle High School    Silver Grove High School    St. Henry District High School    Villa Madonna Academy High School         Other Kentucky schools known for their athletic teams are also on the list:    Paducah Tilghman High School    Henry Clay High School, Lexington    Male High School, Louisville    Pulaski County School    Pikeville Independent High School    Scott County High School    Owensboro Catholic High School    Franklin-Simpson High School, Simpson County    Ballard High School, Louisville

        But several of the Northern Kentucky schools that were listed said they didn't even know their reports were incomplete.

        “This is the first we've heard of this,” said Chris Gramke, a spokesman for Campbell County Schools. “As far as we know, we had done the necessary steps outlined by KHSAA. ... We want to know what forms we're missing. We don't want multiple athletes declared ineligible because of some paperwork.”

        At the direction of the Kentucky Board of Education, state high schools had to complete a review of their sports programs to ensure they were complying with Title IX, a 1972 federal anti-discrimination law that requires gender equity in school activities.

        The state athletic association sent the review packets to schools in January, giving them until June to complete them. That deadline has been extended twice, but the state school board voted this week to give schools one more chance or it would pull the plug on their sports programs.

        The list of schools that haven't filed complete forms includes all three Boone County high schools, which have been under scrutiny since last spring when Boone County High parents filed a federal lawsuit against the district, saying it treated girls' sports unfairly.

        That lawsuit was declared a class-action suit in late September and is pending in court. “This is an issue of basic fairness,” said Craig True, a state board member from Fort Thomas. “If participation in competitive team sports is good for the development of boys, then it's equally good for the development of girls. Besides being the right thing to do, this has been a federal law for 28 years.

        “There is no reason any school should have to lose eligibility ... given the fact that the KHSAA made this request 10 months ago and the deadline lapsed three months ago,” Mr. True said.

        Of the athletic association's 285 member schools, 107 haven't turned in a completed report, according to the state. Four of those schools haven't submitted anything, five sent in reports that were missing some forms and the rest submitted only partial information on some of the forms, the state said.

        Villa Madonna Academy in Covington knew it had missed the deadline, said Principal Pamela McQueen, pointing to renovations at the school over the summer.

        “We knew we were late, but we weren't in our new offices until about a week before school started,” she said.

        The school just finished the report and plans to submit it to the state soon, she said.

        Other Northern Kentucky schools, including Highlands High, said their reports were complete and were surprised to be on the state's list.

        Boone County Superintendent Bryan Blavatt said his district has been in constant contact with the state athletic association because of the lawsuit, and he has not been told his schools hadn't submitted all the paperwork for the state reviews.

        “If anybody has had to get their stuff together, we have,” he said. “We have submitted all the proper paperwork.”

        Mr. Stout said schools that missed the deadline have been notified twice already.

        “We wouldn't put them on there unless they were not in total compliance and had all the stuff in here,” he said. “Now the schools are beginning to realize that the KHSAA means business and this is not going to go away.”

        Mr. Stout said the required information includes about 60 pages with forms to be completed by school districts outlining their sports programs. The athletic association will use the reports to audit every school in the state over the next couple of years.

        “This isn't something that can be done in a day or two,” he said. “Some schools are going to have to go to work.”

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