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In late 2022, the New York City Public Schools Athletic League made a bold promise to ensure all public high school students have access to all 25 sports the league offers by next spring.
To accomplish this goal, officials have proposed expanding a program called “individual access,” which allows students whose school doesn't have a specific sports team to try out for one at a nearby campus.
The expansion was a game-changer for schools like Urban Assembly Bronx Literary Academy, which has 470 students and doesn't have enough students to reliably run a variety of sports teams. said David Garcia-Rosen, the school's dean and director of athletics. school.
“In the spring of 2023, every child in New York City will have the opportunity to play the sport they want, no matter where they attend school,” Garcia-Rosen said.
But Garcia-Rosen, a veteran sports equity advocate in the city's schools, worries that the Department of Education is quietly laying the groundwork to scale back the effort. And he is preparing for battle. The controversy over individual access is the latest chapter in a long-running battle over fairness in sports in New York City schools.
Despite previously promising to open individual access to “all” students, PSAL updated its website in February to state that the individual access program is now open to schools with fewer than six teams in “eligible districts.” He explained that it was a “trial” program for students of
This language is consistent with the provisions of the 2022 Legal Settlement on Fairness in Sports. However, a large proportion of urban students are excluded.
A Department for Education spokesperson said PSAL is currently prioritizing individual access requests from children in schools with the least access to sport. A spokesperson said about 1,500 students participated in Individual Access this year, but declined to say how many students participated last year.
Officials concluded that guaranteeing access to individuals beyond what is called for in the legal settlement “moves us away” from the goal of increasing access to sports across the school, a spokesperson said.
To better achieve this goal, officials have increased the number of new teams by 222 and created 20 shared access programs among schools over the past three years.
“Without diminishing our commitment to providing equitable access to PSAL sports, students and families have told us they want access to teams at or near their alma mater.” said spokesman Nathaniel Stair.
But Garcia-Rosen said this approach shows “a complete lack of understanding of how to solve the problem” because fairness cannot be achieved simply by expanding the number of teams. He noted that small schools often cannot maintain teams due to the small number of students.
Garcia-Rosen filed a complaint Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, arguing that restricting individual access disproportionately harms black and Hispanic students.
The long battle for fairness in sports
Black and Hispanic students are disproportionately concentrated in smaller schools like Bronx Letters, which has historically meant they have had far fewer opportunities to participate on average in a variety of sports.
According to research compiled by Garcia-Rosen, only 38% of black and Hispanic students attend schools with 20 or more teams, compared to white, Asian, multiracial, and or 61% of students in other groups.
The big milestone comes in 2022, when the city plans to add 200 new teams over the next few years and expand its “Shared Access” program, which allows small schools in the same geographic area to combine sports programs. A legal settlement was reached.
The city also committed to providing individual access for students in schools with fewer than six teams who cannot participate in a shared sports program due to location.
But Garcia-Rosen argues that these measures alone will not solve the capital problem.
That's why universal individual access, which Garcia-Rosen calls “the holy grail of equity,” is so transformative.
“It’s really easy and it’s being done all over the country,” he said. “If you go to a school that doesn't have a team you want to play for, you can try out.” [at] This is another school within the district. ”
Students and educators report positive results
Students at Bronx Letters, a public school for grades 6 through 12, are accustomed to not knowing from year to year whether any students are interested enough to lead a particular team.
This school year, the Bronx Letters did not have enough kids to field a girls basketball team.
But 15-year-old sophomore Jayla Herres, an avid athlete, was able to join the team at South Bronx Prep, just a five-minute walk from the school, through the Individual Access Program.
“It was a really great experience,” she said. “I thought it was good to be able to play and get used to being on the court and be more open to interacting with people.”
Jerez values basketball and wants to continue playing. If she can't attend with personal access, she said, she may have to consider transferring schools, but that's not an option she prefers.
Losing the guarantee of individual access for all students could also change the way schools communicate with families about sports options, he said. Last year, Garcia-Rosen was able to promise his future family that his child would have access to all PSAL sports at the Bronx Letters. He even printed a banner advertising that option.
Without a similar guarantee next year, he said, “When families come to choose a high school, we can't guarantee they'll be able to come to this school and participate in every sport.”
Setting up an individual access program requires clearing several administrative and logistical hurdles, but Garcia-Rosen found that administrators are reporting largely positive results.
He contacted athletic directors and principals across the city, and 49 out of 51 respondents said they supported maintaining universal personal access.
“It certainly took a lot of work to get this program off the ground, but it's working well and the students are playing,” said one Manhattan athletic director who asked to remain anonymous. The more you do, the better you will be!”
Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering New York City public schools. To contact Michael, melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.
