Teen who fought dress code returns to school

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, Nov. 15, 2004 | 10:52 a.m.

For Kim Jacobs, there were some first-day-of-school butterflies in her stomach this morning.

"I'm a little nervous, a little jumpy but happy and excited," said Jacobs, who had been suspended from Liberty High School for not following the campus dress code. "I'm glad to be back."

Jacobs' return came after a federal judge ruled last week that her refusal to follow the dress code was not reason enough to expel her from school.

Liberty students are required to wear solid-color red, white or blue shirts and khaki-colored pants.

Since the start of the school year Aug. 30, Jacobs, a junior and an honors student, was suspended for a total of 25 days after repeatedly showing up wearing T-shirts with religious messages or logos for youth organizations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jacobs was told by administrators Oct. 27 she could not return to Liberty and would have to enroll in one of the district's alternative high schools for students with behavioral problems. That prompted the Nevada ACLU to seek an injunction blocking Liberty from enforcing its dress code policy against her.

This morning Jacobs was dressed in the school's colors but not the combination administrators have insisted on -- she wore blue jeans with a white T-shirt with a horizontal line of blue and red stars and the clothing brand "Reebok" across the front.

Jacobs said the shirt was the first one she grabbed out of her drawer this morning. She said her protest "isn't just about religious freedom" but also her First Amendment right to express herself.

With a television camera crew staked out across the street from the high school, Jacobs said she was looking forward to her life returning to normal.

That may be a ways off yet, as the lawsuit the Nevada ACLU filed on her behalf is pending and the Clark County School District is still wrangling with proposed changes to its dress code policy.

Last week U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting Liberty from disciplining Jacobs for failing to follow the campus' dress code policy, which is more strict than the districtwide regulations set by the Clark County School Board.

In his decision Hunt noted the district's plans to send Jacobs to an alternative program and, "given the possibility of such serious and formative injuries," granted the injunction.

The lawsuit is also seeking monetary damages for the emotional distress it says she has suffered as a result of the school administrators' actions.

"She's a special kid who should never have been punished for standing by her principles," said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU. "Students, faculty and staff at Liberty and elsewhere could learn a lot from her about integrity and the importance of sticking to one's core beliefs."

At issue is whether school principals must garner parental support before implementing a dress code policy that is more stricter than the districtwide regulations. There are nine elementary schools participating in a pilot study of mandatory uniforms. The School Board required those schools to show sufficient parental support before being allowed to join the study.

In his decision Hunt did not address the constitutionality of the district's dress code policy and instead focused on the lack of a parental survey at Liberty.

Principals at the 17 schools following "Dress for Success" or "standard school attire" policies -- of which Liberty was the first two years ago -- did not survey families beforehand.

The School Board is slated to vote Thursday on a revised version of the district dress code regulations, which would require principals to show parental support before implementing a stricter policy. Schools that failed to survey parents would have to offer students an option to not be subject to the policy for the remainder of the academic year. Schools intending to follow stricter dress code policies for the 2005-06 academic year would have to survey parents this spring and there would be no "opt out" for students.

Bill Hoffman, senior counsel for the district, said he would not challenge the judge's injunction and agreed that while the district's regulation was under revision the best place for Jacobs was in school.

Emilio Fernandez, principal of Liberty, said it was "business as usual" this morning at the Bermuda Road campus. School staff will adhere to the court order and are waiting for Thursday's School Board vote before taking any other steps, Fernandez said.

Liberty ninth grader Monique Cevalloa said she has frequently been cited by school officials for failing to follow the dress code. Cevalloa also questioned why Jacobs alone would be exempt.

"If it's only her, that's not fair," Cevalloa said, as she waited for the first period bell to ring. "It's cool that she got off but what about the rest of us?"

Several parents expressed dismay that Jacobs' lawsuit could unravel what they say has been a positive policy.

"I think the ACLU is a wonderful organization but they're not thinking about the greater good of the student body," said Pasha Blisch, whose son is a freshman at Liberty. "There is so much competition and pressure on kids to look a certain way. The dress code eliminates all of that."

Mark Jucha, who also has a son at Liberty, said he approved of the School Board's proposal to require a survey of parents. But Liberty should be allowed to keep its mandatory policy through the end of the academic year, Jucha said.

"We live in democracy and if there's enough votes the dress code will stay," Jucha said. "In the meantime they shouldn't cut off in mid-stream something that's working."