STAC Told Cheerleaders Must Attend Girls' Events
By William Kates, The Associated Press

Cheerleaders in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference will have to cheer at an equal number of girls' and boys' basketball games following a federal government investigation of a parent's complaint that girls' sports were being slighted.

While the U.S. Department of Education ruled against specific schools in STAC, which includes Ithaca High School, it could have ramifications throughout New York, said Nina Van Erk, the executive director of the New York Public High School Athletic Association. Van Erk said Friday she would be sending an advisory letter to all school districts in New York informing them about the determination by the education department's Office for Civil Rights, even though she had not heard of the cheerleading issue elsewhere in the state. "The letter will encourage equality in all promotion and publicity, not just cheerleading. Boys and girls sports need to be treated equally in all regards — in any publicity, any funding, any support," she said.

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