ACLU sues in school attire dispute

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

The Clark County School District has been sued over a decision to throw out a Liberty High School student who refused to swap her religious-themed T-shirts for attire approved by the principal.

The Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court, claiming student Kim Jacobs, a junior at Liberty High School, has had her constitutional rights violated by the dress code policy. The lawsuit seeks to have her disciplinary record wiped clean. It also levels charges of intentional infliction of emotional distress, interference with parental rights and seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Kim's grandmother Beverly Jacobs said school officials told the family this week that Kim had three choices -- follow Liberty's dress code requirements, be referred to one of the district's alternative programs for students with behavioral problems or enroll in some form of home schooling or independent study.

"She's being kept from the public education she is entitled to," Beverly Jacobs said.

Kim Jacobs has become the center of the firestorm surrounding the district's controversial dress code regulation, which the School Board is in the process of revising.

The School Board gave preliminary approval this week to changes that would allow students to "opt out" of following the stricter dress code for the remainder of this year. Schools that wish to continue the policy for the 2005-06 academic year would have to get approval from parents through a survey and there would be no "opt out" option. A second, final vote is set for Nov. 18.

"It's unfortunate that the situation has come to this," said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU. "And it's sad that the district will be squandering precious resources defending a policy several School Board members and administrators have acknowledged is broken and needs to be fixed."

At Liberty students are required to wear khaki-colored bottoms with solid-colored red, white or blue T-shirts. The dress code requirement is stricter than the district-wide regulation and was implemented without input from the school's families. Similar policies are in place at more than a dozen other schools in the district.

Bill Hoffman, senior counsel for the School District, confirmed his office received a copy of the lawsuit late Thursday but said he could not comment until he had an opportunity to review it.

Clark County School Board President Susan Brager-Wellman said she was disappointed to hear the lawsuit had been filed.

"We did a lot of good work at our meeting this week on the dress code and I think we're moving toward a very workable compromise," Brager-Wellman said. "I wish this (the lawsuit) could have waited until we finished the regulation next month."