North Carolina charter school with traditional values violated female students

A federal appeals court ruled that a North Carolina charter school that proclaimed to have 'traditional values' violated the rights of their female students by requiring them to wear skirts.

On Tuesday, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 10-6 that the dress code at Charter Day School in Leland violated female students' equal protection rights, putting them at a disadvantage by the requirement.

In 2016 the guardians of three girls sued the K-8 school claiming the dress code that required female students to wear skirts that are 'knee-length or longer' and prohibited them from wearing shorts or pants was discrimination.

The parents, who were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that the dress code forced the girls to be colder in the winter and 'forces them to pay constant attention to the positioning of their legs during class, distracting them from learning.'

They also claimed the mandatory skirts led them to avoid certain activities like playing sports during recess 'for fear of exposing their undergarments and being reprimanded by teachers or teased by boys.'

In 2019 U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard ruled that Charter Day School can not enforce the skirts-only rule as part of its dress code that punishes violations with suspensions and even expulsion.

Howard also ruled that female students are clearly treated differently than boys at the kindergarten through 8th grade school and that the breach is a violation of the U.S. Constitution's equal protection requirements.

According to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, any educational institution that receives federal funds cannot discriminate based on sex or sexual orientation.