Pembroke School Committee Debates Policy on Athletes of Opposite Sex in Sports
$40 million budget approved for 2025-2026, includes funding for behavioral program and math interventionists
PEMBROKE - April 15 - The Pembroke School Committee is considering how to address situations where student athletes may not feel comfortable competing against members of the opposite sex, with committee members divided on whether to codify the issue in policy or simply add language to the athletic handbook.
The discussion emerged during the April 15 meeting when the policy subcommittee presented its recommendation to add language to the athletic handbook rather than create a formal policy change.
"No student athlete or coach shall be penalized by the district in any manner for forfeiting an athletic contest against an opposing team for safety reasons," reads the proposed handbook addition. "Safety reasons may include but are not limited to issues with the facility, playing field or surface, athletes of the opposite sex on the opposing team, injury, illness, or egregious conduct by athletes or fans."
The policy subcommittee, which includes committee members Katrina Delaney and Allison Glennon, met multiple times since October to review the issue after Committee Chair Patrick Chilcott requested they examine a policy from Dighton-Rehoboth regarding athletes forfeiting games when teams include members of the opposite sex.
*link to story on October meeting
"For me this is a safety issue," Chilcott said. "I continue to believe it's a safety issue. I brought it up initially as a safety issue."
Delaney explained the subcommittee's reasoning for recommending handbook language rather than a policy change.
"All of our student and coach discipline practices live in our handbooks and not our policy manuals," she said, "so it seems like the place the best place to put that would be within the handbook where the rest of those discipline practices lie."
The subcommittee also consulted with Athletic Director Brian Phillips about practices in other Patriot League schools and gathered feedback from the student advisory committee.
"They were kind of confused as to why this was being brought up because from their perspective, the MIAA already has rules that address gender and sex differences," Delaney said of the student feedback.
Committee member Susan Bollinger disagreed with the subcommittee's recommendation, arguing that the policy should be formalized.
"I really don't see any harm in putting it in the policy," Bollinger said. "This is not preventing someone of the opposite sex from participating in the sport. This is allowing an opt-out if someone doesn't feel safe."
Bollinger attempted to make a motion to amend policy JJIB to include language that "no coach of a single-sex team shall be penalized by the district for forfeiting a match against an opposing team because such team includes athletes of the opposite sex."
Chilcott seconded the motion for discussion but ultimately suspended the debate after committee members questioned whether the specific policy change was properly noticed on the agenda.
"I'm going to suspend discussion on this topic until May 6," Chilcott said. "At which point on May 6, because we just debated all of this, we will come back and there will be explicitly a vote on the policy number and to make a potential revision to the policy number on the agenda."
The discussion began after a community member, Marielle McCann, spoke during public comment about her concerns regarding potential policy changes affecting transgender athletes.
"I think that we can all agree that the value of school sports, teamwork, sportsmanship, leadership, self-respect, self-discipline, relationship building, perseverance, fitness, and more. Trans kids, like other students, deserve the same chances to learn these values as well," McCann said.
She added, "If we want to support girls sports, we should be providing more funding and more opportunities to play and also creating stronger laws to protect female athletes from harassment and abuse, not banning transgender youth from participating in sports."
Chilcott clarified that the policy discussion was "about whether or not biological males should be on biological female teams or biological females should be on biological male teams. It is not just about any kid that may identify as transgender."
In other business, the committee:
- Approved the 2025-26 school year calendar, with the 180th day of school falling on Friday, June 12, and potential snow days extending the year to Monday, June 22.
- Approved athletic surveys to gauge student interest in adding sailing and dance teams as self-funded activities for the first two years.
- Reviewed a proposed revision to policy KF regarding community use of school facilities to clarify that school grounds are included in the policy and that use during school hours is prohibited.
- Heard a presentation from Superintendent Erin Obey on the fiscal year 2026 administrative recommended budget of $40 million, which includes funding for a behavioral social-emotional program at Hobmock Elementary School, a part-time business teacher at Pembroke High School, a district-wide Board Certified Behavior Analyst, a coordinator of counseling position, and math interventionists.
- Discussed enrollment reductions that will result in one less section of third grade at North Pembroke, one less section of sixth grade at Hobomock, and two fewer staff positions at the middle school.
- Heard about challenges with vocational education access, as Pembroke students have been unable to secure spots at regional vocational schools for the past three years due to changes in admission policies.
The committee plans to revisit the athlete policy discussion at its May 6 meeting with a formal vote on whether to add language to the policy manual or only to the athletic handbook.