In a recent story, two Ardmore schools returned two boys from school because they were wearing t-shirts with the Black Lives Matter slogan. The administration informed parents that children were not allowed to wear political t-shirts to school. Bentlee and Rodney attend different schools but were both boys taken from class and required to sit in the administrator’s office all day because of their t-shirts. However, the third child Jordan, the eldest of the three, was allowed to wear the same t-shirt in an Ardmore Middle school.
When interviewed by the New York Times, Bentlee’s mother did say her son had worn the t-shirt once before, when administrators required he turn the shirt inside out because the school did not approve of the message. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Herbert clarified that Bentlee, her middle child, previously wore the BLM shirt to school on April 30 at Charles Evans Elementary, where he was forced to turn the shirt inside out because the school did not like the shirt’s political message. Upon arriving at the school the second time, Ms. Herbert asked the principal to show her where the dress code policy said he could not wear t-shirts with political messages or sayings. The only dress code policy states that logos or phrases need to be per the school’s taste a be school-appropriate. However, it does not state anywhere that certain clothes are too political.
The school principal told ms Herbert that after the George Floyd case, politics is not a topic or a dress code that will be allowed as it is too controversial. She did inform Herbert that the school would not take further action as it is not against the policy. The school principal went on to say that it is her final decision on appropriateness and their interpretation is so that there are no disturbances in the school. She says she doesn’t want children wearing Trump shirts to school on the same basis. It creates emotional conflict and anxiety in the kids.
Ms. Herbert expressed her sentiment that this was not political but about civil rights. After her sons were denied the right to enter class, Herbert contacted the American Civil Liberties Union, who wrote a letter to the school district citing a violation of the first amendment. The rule being discussed was addressed in 1969 in the United States Supreme Court where it was ruled that students do not lose their constitutional right of freedom of speech once they enter a school. This is a constitutional law that has been upheld for more than 50 years.
