A student at Fairview Middle School whose birth-assigned sex is male but who identifies as agender, wore a dress to school. Upon the student’s arrival at school, Principal Scott Hansen allegedly told them that wearing a dress was in violation of the dress code because dresses are not for boys.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 16, 2015
CONTACT: ACLU of Florida Media Office, media@aclufl.org, (786) 363-2737
TALLAHASSEE, FL – In response to an ACLU letter sent today regarding the unlawful enforcement of a dress code policy at Fairview Middle School, Superintendent of Leon County Schools, Jackie Pons, stated:
“Our District takes issues like these very seriously and I regret that an incident occurred. I have met with the mother of the student and have apologized to her and her child on behalf of our school district. I have reviewed Board Policy 5511 regarding Dress Codes and the Dress Code for Fairview Middle School and find no language that requires a student to dress a certain way based on gender. I can confirm to you that the Leon County School District’s policies do not contain or allow student clothing restrictions based on gender.”
ACLU of Florida staff attorney, Daniel Tilley responded to the letter saying:
“We applaud Superintendent Pons’s commitment and actions to ensure appropriate treatment of transgender and gender nonconforming students. We hope that other school districts take note and will ensure that their administrators, teachers, and staff enforce dress codes within the bounds of the law and provide for the safe and respectful treatment of all students.”
A copy of Superintendent Jackie Pons’ letter can be found here: https://aclufl.org/resources/leon-county-schools-superintendent-response-to-aclu-regarding-unlawful-enforcement-of-dress-code-policy/
