Boy expelled from kindergarten for wearing 'small, blue stud earrings' can pursue sex discrimination lawsuit: Court

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Law & Crime

May 1st, 2024, 9:50 am


A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday to resurrect a lawsuit filed on behalf of a kindergartner who was expelled for wearing little blue earrings to school. Rocky Mountain Classical Academy in Colorado Springs is a K-8 charter school. It has a dress code, some portions of which apply only to girls and others only to boys. One aspect of the gender-specific dress code is that girls are permitted to wear small earrings to school, but boys are banned from wearing earrings at all.

According to the code:

Tattoos and body piercings, other than girls’ earrings, are not allowed. Earrings must be limited to one earring per ear. Large, dangling, or hoop-type earrings are not allowed. Jewelry other than watches for boys or girls, and small earrings on girls, may not be worn.

In 2019, the mother of a student identified as “John Doe” sued the school and some of its administrators for sex discrimination after her 5-year-old son was expelled for wearing earrings to school and failing to follow the dress code. The mother said her son wore “small, blue stud earrings” that she said were consistent with the dress code policy for girls, according to the ruling. She also said that prior to her son’s expulsion, she attempted to raise concerns over the dress code with the school and the school board on multiple occasions, but to no avail.

In 2022, Donald Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Domenico threw out the mother’s lawsuit finding that the school’s dress code “imposes comparable burdens on students of both sexes,” and is therefore not discriminatory. The mother appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and a unanimous three-judge panel reversed Domenico’s ruling in a brief ruling.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/civil-rights/boy-expelled-from-kindergarten-for-wearing-small-blue-stud-earrings-can-pursue-sex-discrimination-lawsuit-court/

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Link to RULING (PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24629327-doe-v-rocky-mountain-ruling?responsive=1&title=1

Link to RULING (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24629327/doe-v-rocky-mountain-ruling.pdf

[rsdsharp]

1. I knew a kid who flunked kindergarten -- twice --

but I’ve never heard of anyone being expelled from kindergarten.

[twodogsbarking]

12. Is this grown up person in The House by chance?

[rsdsharp]

15. LOL! Not that I know of!

[PeaceWave]

2. Leave it to Republicans to sexualize jewelry.

[Pisces]

3. This is a charter, run like a private school with specific dress code rules. You don't have to send your

Child to this school. If this was a public school then you have a case. They let you read the school
Rules before you apply.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. There ARE public charter schools in a number of locales

that get a share of the pool of tax money that is designated for "public schools" (we have that here in Philly).

[Pisces]

6. I understand. They also have a school handbook that shows the uniform requirements. If you don't want to

Wear uniforms to school you don’t apply to the charter. If you want charter schools to not receive federal funds get it to the ballot.

Everything is not an outrage. It was well defined about the jewelry before they sent their child to the school.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. However it still goes back to whether they get "public funding" or not

meaning there are state and/or federal rules that cannot simply be ignored versus say, a "private" religious school, which is completely privately funded.

This has been the ugly reality and source of quite a bit of divisiveness when it comes to "charter schools".

I see this as similar to the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Acts that exist in various states that seek to prevent discrimination against certain hair types and styles worn by non-white students.

[Pisces]

13. I agree with the CROWN ACT. I don't disagree about taking public funding. Charter schools have found

A way around some of their stricter rules. Jewelry, make up, nail polish and uniforms is part of a lot of charter schools rules. Parents who put their kids in these schools like the academics and the conformity so that they don’t have to deal with some of these social issues. I guarantee cell phones will be next.

These charter schools also kick out any problem children. Anyone who disrupts class or is violent will be gone immediately. Unlike public schools that must take all children regardless of discipline problems. This is why you will find many parents will go along with the rules to have smaller class size and less distractions.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. Oh I know but they are not all the same in terms of comparing "public" and "private" charters

One of my nieces attended a cyber-charter (in that case, all online).

We have had charters now making up about 50% of Philly's public schools and we are in the midst of a big mess between our new Mayor and her support of a School Board member who the City Council initially rejected for confirmation (a new process after a ballot initiative) due to her previous tenure on the Board and the Board's state-run predecessor - the financially-focused "School Reform Commission", for non-renewals and a lack of approvals of new charter schools -

Charter school debate dominates Philadelphia school board nominees’ hearing

By Carly Sitrin and Dale Mezzacappa | April 19, 2024, 8:10pm EDT


(snip)


Thomas led a particularly pointed line of questioning directed at the four incumbent board members about what he alleges is a discriminatory charter authorization process that’s resulted in the district closing an outsize number of Black-led charter schools in recent years.

Of the charter schools that board has voted to close, Thomas said 80% of those were founded or led by Black people, even though they comprise only about 25% of the 82 charters in the city. “Those numbers aren’t racist?” Thomas asked during a particularly intense exchange with Streater. In fact, from 2010 to 2021, the district’s governing body voted not to renew or revoke the charters of 13 charter schools. Eight of those — a little over 61% — were Black-led.

Political divisions over the treatment of Black-led charters in Philadelphia came to a head last year following the release of an independent report examining alleged bias in the charter school approval process. The report determined that there was no intentional bias in the authorization process. But the authors did point to inherent flaws in the system that resulted in Black-led charter schools being non renewed or closed in “greater numbers than their peers.”

Several councilmembers and public speakers on Friday chastised the board for what they perceive as a failure to address any of the systemic flaws noted in the report. Councilmember Anthony Phillips outright asked the board members: “Will you champion public charter schools as vital partners in creating a system of great schools that better serves Philadelphia students and families?” None of the nominees answered that question directly. But board member Lam said:“Every charter decision made is a difficult one,” noting that while public dollars fund charter schools, the district does not manage them.

(snip)

https://www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia/2024/04/20/school-board-nominees-face-tough-charter-school-questions-from-city-council/

[LiberalFighter]

7. Where do they get their funding? In Indiana, the state provides the funding.

[FakeNoose]

5. Why would anyone want to go to this school?

Sheesh! Let this go, Mom.

It happened 5 years ago and your son is (presumably) settled and comfortable at another school.
Isn't your family better off if you just let this go?

[angrychair]

9. That is the public school

Just because it says charter doesn't mean they are going there by choice but that is the public school option because they are getting public funds to operate.

Ignoring stuff like this let's the religious extremists win and force people to do things that are contrary to federal guidelines and laws.

[h2ebits]

11. Uh, no. . . .

I live in Colorado. Charter schools here are publicly funded for the most part.

Some of us believe that change does not happen unless we relentlessly pursue inequality and discrimination. It takes a long time to get cases heard and processed through the justice system.

This mother deserves a big pat on the back for persistence and steadfastness.

[Timeflyer]

10. "Classical" in a school name is code for "conservative."

[Novara]

16. Charter schools should not be publicly funded.

That's what public schools are for.

Now, if there is no public school in a very remote area, that presents an issue. And if that's the case and they get public funding, then they should have to operate exactly like a public school, which means no sex discrimination. But that's not most of them.

Charter schools are essentially quasi-private schools. Let tuition fund them, not our tax dollars.

This is why so many public schools are crap now. The high school I graduated from 25 years ago was one of the best in the state 25 years ago. Now it's one of the worst. Tax dollars that should be funding public education are going to charter schools. The kids that still go to public schools tend to be poorer and parents are so busy keeping food on the table they don't have time to get involved in school activities. Poor schools usually have shitty test scores. It's a shitty vicious cycle. We are failing our kids.