By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT–That $30,000 will be spent on designing a girls team room at Staples High School should only be the start in leveling the playing field between girl and boy sports, the school board was told at a meeting last week.

Kasey Feeley, a Staples senior who testified before the Board of Finance in December, took her message to the school board at its January 29 meeting.

“Our accomplished female athletes deserve a space that celebrates them,” said Feeley during the public comment portion of the meeting.

In December, the Board of Finance approved design work for a girls’ team room as part of a larger $3.5 million project to renovate the Staples auditorium and science labs at the middle school.

The Representative Town Meeting followed suit in January.

During those meetings, Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice said the district “was not asking for everything” but was trying to address a great inequity by providing female athletes with a team room that has technology, A.V. equipment, whiteboards and other amenities that male athletes have had for some time.

Converting a portion of the locker room into a team room is expected to cost a total of $153,390 beyond the design costs. Work could begin as soon as this summer.

Staples Athletic Director V.J. Sarullo suggested more upgrades were being planned “down the road.”

Citing Title IX requirements, Feeley told the school board that while a team room is appreciated it does not address long inoperable showers and lockers for girls. During a recent tour, the several girls shower stalls showed signs of rust and were being used as storage, according to Inklings, Staples’ student newspaper.

The space, Feeley pointed out, has remained unchanged while multiple upgrades have occurred in the boys’ locker room, including in 2005 and 2015.

“The boys’ locker room has bright lighting and adequate storage space, room for pregame hype and team meetings,” Feeley said. “The girls’, however, is dim and often cramped, not an ideal space for amping up.”

Later, in a text message, Feeley said every female athlete she has spoken to is upset and disappointed with the current inequities. Some remain unconvinced that the changes will really happen, she added.

So what needs to be done? 

Here’s a list from Feeley:

• the girls’ locker rooms need brighter lighting
• new bathroom stalls (some have holes in them)
• repairs to feminine hygiene disposals
• larger cubby-style lockers that can fit athletic bags similar to what they boys have where locks are optional for quick access
• new floors
• designated storage spaces to avoid girls spaces being used to hold athletic dept. equipment.

Overall, what the girls have should match the boys’ as closely as possible as required by Title IX. Creating a team room addresses just one of the Title IX violations, Keeley pointed out.

Keeley played rugby at Staples before being sidelined due to an injury.  She also reports for Inklings and wrote about the situation in the December 2025 edition of the publication.

During the board meeting, Keeley pointed out that over the past decade the Staples girls’ soccer team has had two state championships, four FCIAC tournaments and eight regular season division championships. Girls Field Hockey has won six state championships and 5 FCIAC West tournaments. 

“Each year we see our female athletes get recruited to prestigious collegiate sports… Every game, every practice, every opportunity to build a future education and uphold Staples pride starts in the locker room,” Feeley said. “Our accomplished female athletes deserve a space that celebrates them and by complying with these expectations we can give them that.” 

Linda Conner Lambeck

^{_{Linda Conner Lambeck covers education for Westport Journal. She was a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications. She has covered education throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. She is a proud member of the Education Writers Association.}}