WESTPORT–The lack of equity between boys and girls locker room and shower facilities at Staples High School was discussed for more than an hour at the latest Board of Finance meeting, held at the Town Hall auditorium on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

This was the first time the newly elected members of the Board of Finance met. The first order of business was to elect the board’s Chairman and Vice Chairman. Danielle Dobin, the ex-chair of the P&Z Committee, was unanimously elected as the BoF’s new Chairman; Liz Heyer was elected to the post of Vice Chair, also unanimously.

Locker room?

On the board’s agenda was a request for $3,574,260 from the Board of Education for FY26 building projects. The request was broken down into eight items, including the oft-discussed renovation to the Staples auditorium and the science lab upgrade. Item SHS-031 is request for $30,000 in design work to “Renovate Girls’ Locker Room (New Team Room).”

Thomas Scarice, Superintendent of the Westport School District, said this item is a priority. Scarice described it as the result of looking at the Staples sports facilities and asking, “Where is there a great inequity? … We have athletic team rooms for the males but we have nothing for the females … This is the most important place for us to give access to our girls’ sports … We’re prioritizing, we’re not asking for everything.”

Girls will get whatever the boys have

Scarice continued, saying the request is to design a team room for females with, “technology, A.V. equipment, white boards, etc., whatever we have in the boys’ team room we would put in the girls’ as well.”

Board Member Allyson Stollenwerck described a larger inequity that the proposed renovation isn’t addressing: with the exception of football and boys lacrosse, the other boys’ sports don’t have team rooms either.

V.J. Sarullo, Staples Athletic Director, explained that, due to the size of the football and boys lacrosse teams and the volume of their equipment, having dedicated team rooms is an imperative. He noted that he’d surveyed the other schools in the FCIAC and that this is standard across the conference.

Sarullo said that, in pursuit of greater equity between the boys’ and girls’, “down the road, for sure we’re going to look at other areas to upgrade.”

Stollenwerck was less concerned about the state of the girls’ locker room and showers, but she felt that the facilities needed to meet the “girls’ needs more holistically.”

Dobin: different perspective

Dobin chimed in with a different perspective. She called the disparity in the locker rooms “a disgrace,” with lockers that are unusable and a shower room with rusted and broken fixtures that is so decrepit that it has become a storage area for “junk.”

Dobin was disappointed that the School district’s request was so unambitious. But, she recognized that “the failure to prioritize a greater renovation isn’t any one person’s responsibility.” Acknowledging that the girls’ locker room issues go beyond the lockers and the showers and include poor lighting, air and an oppressive ceiling height, she said she “would have preferred a far larger” request. 

Public comments 

Members of the public were given the floor to air their opinions.

Kasey Feeley, a Staples senior, reported that she’s been studying the facility disparity since mid-November. She has concluded that, “These spaces reflect how we value female athletes.”

Eva Slossberg, a senior and a member of the fencing team, is taking the Staples “Women in Society” class. She commented on “how important it is to have appropriate spaces for athletes to prepare themselves.” The girls lack that, she said.

Mackenzie Pretty, an assistant coach of the girls’ soccer team, said she is “truly grateful for the athletic department and for everything that they do. . . But I’m here tonight because … one area continues to fall short: equity between girls’ and boys’ sports.”

Barry Beattie, the Head Coach of the girls’ soccer team, said he agreed with Ms. Dobin: “The girls’ locker room is a disgrace.

Resident Heather Talbott said that this issue is the “tip of the iceberg” on the lack of gender equity. She is, however, heartened that people are taking this so seriously. I’m “glad to hear eyes and ears and people are talking about it.”

In a discussion after the meeting, Dobin told Westport Journal that “The current BOE and administration have undertaken the significant challenge of addressing long-standing deferred maintenance, including resolving parity issues. Setting priorities, especially with so many worthy yet competing demands for capital isn’t easy. I have tremendous faith in this BOE, the superintendent and athletic director – who literally brought eyes to the locker room deficiencies – to continue to consider the best options for every student. This conversation was initiated by the BOE not by the BOF and I’m grateful for their leadership.”

The vote on the $30,000 appropriation for girls’ team room passed 7-0.

The board passed 6-1 the study of a new Staples concession stand. Liz Heyer the sole vote against.

The board also voted unanimously in favor of funding the other six line items:

• Exterior facade painting
• Staples auditorium rigging and lights
• Wireless upgrade on athletic fields
• Science lab upgrade
• Roof repair
• Folding partition