After months of legal negotiations and a spate of national media attention, the families of five Redwood Middle School students and the Napa Valley Unified School District reached a settlement Friday over claims that the school's no-logos, no-denim dress code violated students’ constitutional rights.The suit is best known because then-middle schooler Toni Kay Scott, one of the plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in the case, was removed from class for wearing socks with the Winnie the Pooh character Tigger. Her sister, Sydni, was reprimanded for wearing a shirt that read, “Jesus Freak.”
Under the settlement agreement, the district will not prohibit lettering or pictures unless allowed by the state education code, which protects the free speech rights of students in California’s public schools.Future dress codes at Redwood Middle School that limit colors, fabrics or patterns must be implemented as part of a school uniform that allows parents to opt out.
The original policy, introduced in the 1990s in response to rising gang activity on campus, prohibited students from wearing denim or clothing displaying stripes, logos of any size or colors other than white, yellow, green, blue, brown, khaki, black and gray. School officials and teachers have said the dress code was successful in mitigating safety concerns.
Scott and other students said the policy crossed a constitutional line.“California law contains strong protections for student speech, and limits schools' ability to restrict students' clothing choices,” said Julia Harumi Mass, an ACLU attorney. Mass said that, “While in the media Toni Kay's Tigger socks got a lot of attention, really the principles behind the case, which are freedom of expression and individuality, are core American values.”
The settlement bars the school from prohibiting logos like those on Toni Kay’s now infamous socks or phrases like those on her sister Sydni’s shirt. Logos and lettering are protected under the settlement unless determined to be obscene, libelous or slanderous, or designed to promote unlawful acts or violation of school regulations, said Mass...
...As part of the settlement, the district will remove any references to dress code violations from the student plaintiffs' records and allow all other students who attended Redwood during the last six years to request that similar references be removed from their records.
[NVUSD Superintendent John Glaser said,] "Now the district will be able to turn its attention — and funds — back to educating students.“ We are glad we were able to settle the lawsuit, which diverted economic resources from our primary mission,” said Glaser. The amount of money spent on litigation instead of education, he said, has been “too much.”
This from the Napa Valley Register.
The Associated Press reported elsewhere that the suit cost the district $95,000 in lawyer's fees.
Thanks Amanda.
