Tam Union school district pressured for girls flag football

A San Rafael man lobbying the Tamalpais Union High School District to launch a girls flag football program says it is violating federal discrimination law by failing to approve a team this spring.

“It is shameful that in a place like Marin County — known for claiming to lead on equity — we have a superintendent who refuses to stand up for young women’s civil rights,” said Mark Gilbert, whose daughter Ellie plays on the Terra Linda High School girls flag football team. “This is not progress; this is regression.”

The district denies violating the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in school sports. The district plans to field a team in another year, possibly at Redwood High School in Larkspur, said Tara Taupier, the superintendent.

“The district is not blocking the creation of a flag football team,” Taupier said. “We have agreed to work towards fielding a team beginning in the fall of 2026. Title IX does not say you must create the team in a specific time frame.”

Girls flag football was approved as a state sanctioned high school sport by the California Interscholastic Federation beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Only two Marin teams played that year — Terra Linda and San Marin high schools.

This year, Novato and San Rafael high schools added teams. Marin now has four teams playing in division 2 of the North Coast Section, according to an online roster.

Gilbert said he and other Marin boosters would like the Tam Union district to join with the Novato Unified School District and San Rafael City Schools.

“As a parent of a current seventh grader at Hall Middle School who is slated to attend Redwood High School, I want to express my full support for the formation of a girls flag football team,” JaSin Carlen wrote in a letter to the Tam Union district. “My daughter is deeply interested in participating, and we were excited to see this momentum building.”

“I believe it’s important for the district to recognize that strong interest in this sport exists, not only within the current student body, but also among incoming students and their families,” Carlen said.

Taupier disputes the level of interest described by Gilbert at the district board meeting on Tuesday. During the public comment period, Gilbert said there are “currently 29 girls signed up to form a girls flag football team for the 2025-26 school year. A coach is ready.”

“This exceeds the number of players needed to form a team and fully satisfies the legal threshold under Title IX,” Gilbert said.

According to Taupier, about 24 girls expressed interest in joining the team at two meetings held at Redwood earlier this year. If even those girls are still interested, a team needs at least 14 players on the field per game, seven on defense and seven on offense, Taupier said.

“Our past experience with other teams is that there is a 50% to 60% attrition rate between interest and actually coming out for a team,” she said.

“Redwood and all Tam District schools meet the Title IX criteria for compliance with proportional opportunity to participate in sports,” she added. Redwood has 23 girls athletic teams, 21 boys athletic teams and one coed athletic team, Taupier said.

“These teams do not include sideline cheer, of which there are four teams,” she said. “Our athletes are also significantly proportional to our enrollment of boys and girls.”

Gilbert said he is undeterred by Tam Union’s stance and will press the issue. He said he and other parents are petitioning the district to place the matter on the agenda for discussion at the May 20 board meeting.

“We know it can be done,” Gilbert said. “Terra Linda High School launched its girls flag football team with just 15 girls. Redwood now has 29 — yet Tam District remains the only district refusing to act.”

“This delay is not due to lack of interest — it’s policy being used as a barrier,” he said. “That is unlawful.”