Little Rock board backs Central softball facility upgrades

Board approves renovations

The Little Rock School Board voted unanimously Thursday to proceed with facility upgrades for Central High School’s softball team. Nabholz Construction will renovate a detached locker room and restroom on the northwest side of Central, along with the fieldhouse. The meeting agenda put the district’s expected cost at.

District attorney David Kizzia said the project is intended to make the athletic spaces fully usable by girls’ teams. The work is part of the district’s effort to comply with Title IX in its treatment of Central’s softball and baseball programs. Title IX is a federal civil rights law barring sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding.

Players raised facility concerns

Central softball players, parents and coaches told the board in April that the team lacked facilities available to the baseball program. They described practicing at Interstate Park, about three miles from the school, without dedicated equipment storage. A student-athlete said the team lacked access to bathrooms and running water there during the preseason.

Participants also raised concerns about drainage at the park’s field. Central’s baseball team practices at Buddy Coleman Field on the school campus, which was recently renovated with artificial turf and equipment upgrades.

Field sharing remains short-term response

In May, the board approved shared use of Buddy Coleman Field by the softball and baseball teams as a short-term response to the Title IX concerns. Some softball team members and parents opposed that plan, citing scheduling difficulties and the repeated field changes needed to accommodate both sports.

The newly approved work addresses locker room, restroom and fieldhouse access. It follows the district attorney’s acknowledgment in April that the softball team did not have a dedicated place to store equipment.