Kathleen JanisIn exchange for the Janis family dismissing their complaint, Davis District officials agreed to allow girls to participate in any wrestling school-sanctioned wrestling program. The school district also agreed to pay the family's legal fees and a monetary settlement, the Desert News reported Thursday.
"That was the big win," said Janis family attorney Stewart Gollan of the change in district policy that barred girls from participating in junior high wrestling programs. "I wasn't surprised that it got resolved quickly. … We were pretty confident that the case law was so clear."
Gollan also credited a federal judge who granted Janis a temporary restraining order against the Davis District earlier this year, in persuading the district to settle the case.
Back in February, the Janis family attorneys had filed a request for an injunction in federal court to allow Kathleen to join the team during wrestling season. At that time, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby granted the injunction, the day before her junior high school's wrestling tryouts.
Davis District Community Relations director Chris Williams confirmed the settlement and that school policy had changed, telling the Deseret News, "We had a number of girls who wrestled (this winter), and wrestled competitively. We are moving forward, and that will be standard opportunity for girls as well as boys."
The district had already allowed girls to compete on the high school wrestling team.
"Kathleen is ecstatic she was able to wrestle," her mother Kelly Janis told the Deseret News. "It's heightened her desire for wrestling. She's blossomed through all of this. Being told no twice, and then say, ‘Hey, this is wrong.' It's made Kathleen so much stronger."
The fight for Kathleen Janis to wrestle in junior high was not easy. Her mother said the family endured abuse, ranging from having their house pelted with eggs, to vulgar insults, even death threats. All that aside, Kelly Janis said her daughter is proud to have led the effort to change the rule because she felt it was the right thing to do.
"She knows a lot of young girls will be able to follow in her footsteps," Kelly Janis said. "She's very, very happy to be at the forefront of this. She's very proud, and I'm proud of her."
Another point of pride for the Janis family: In addition to competing for Central Davis Junior High, Kathleen recently wrestled at the U.S. Marine Corps girls folkstyle national tournament, where she placed seventh, earning All-American honors.
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