A 12-year-old Florida girl was removed from class and humiliated after school officials determined she violated the dress code by wearing a sports bra.
Christine Barnhill was called Aug. 23 to R. Dan Nolan Middle School in Lakewood Ranch to bring new clothing for her daughter, who was placed in a "holding room" until she arrived, reported the Bradenton Herald.
“I saw a couple of girls walk out of the bathroom with new shirts on and then hand their moms the clothes, and the moms putting them in these plastic bags and leaving,” Barnhill said.
Assistant principal Michelle Clark brought Jenna Barnhill out and brushed aside her hair to show her mother the bra strap.
The girl then burst into tears.
Barnhill said her daughter is an athlete, and she prefers sports bras for their comfort.
Principal Scot Boice explained the dress code prohibits visible bra straps, even for a brief moment.
“He started rattling off these examples of reaching for something in the lunchroom, bending down to get a book, slinging a backpack over their shoulders, and then if an undergarment shows, that’s a violation,” Barnhill said.
Barnhill and her husband, a U.S. Air Force veteran, wrote a letter this week to school district officials complaining the dress code was "militant" and unfair.
A student at another Manatee County school, Braden River High, was ordered to cover her nipples with bandages in April after she wore a long-sleeve shirt and no bra, in a case that drew national attention.
“How much learning time are these girls losing to these subjective, gender-biased dress code violations?” Barnhill said.
School officials defended their actions, saying the dress code was inspired by state law and prohibited "clothing that exposes underwear or body parts in an indecent or vulgar manner or that disrupts the orderly learning environment.”
“School staff, including the principal, strongly disagree with the facts as stated in the letter,” said district attorney Mitchell Teitelbaum.
“School officials state they never asked the student to shake her head, bend or change her clothes or undergarments," the attorney added. "It was the parents who had the student change their clothes, and not school personnel.”
