A Pitt County mother says high school administrators unfairly targeted her daughter for violating the school uniform policy.
She's now taken her complaint to the US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
Janine Williams says her daughter, a senior at JH Rose High School, was suspended during exams. She says the problem all started with an email. “Her first period teacher warned her that an email went out the afternoon before saying that the email was singling her out that she's out of dress code; to be on the look out for her,” says Williams.
"It appears to us that there is a distain for black culture,” says Ozzie Hall, President of the Pitt County Coalition for Educating Black Children. He's is helping Williams take her fight to the next level.
“We think dress codes are a good thing in the school but in this particular case, what Pitt County Schools has done, is target African American students with this dress code policy knowing that African American students is about a 28 percent poverty rate in Pitt County,” said Hall.
Pitt County Schools says any student who violates the dress code once is given a warning. "When it's several over and over or multiple offenses, that can result in suspension,” says spokesperson Heather Mayo.
Williams admits that her daughter had four minor violations but Hall says what defines a violation isn't clear enough and is subjective. He says no student should be denied an education because of what they wear.
“You deny them an education because they can't comply with the dress code or haven't, then I think your violating the North Carolina Constitution,” says Hall.
The school systems says they work with students in anyway they can to make sure the student is appropriately dressed. Some schools even have certain articles of clothing on standby in case a student is in violation.
Williams says she filed a grievance with the Pitt County Schools System but made no mention of racial discrimination. Both sides are waiting for a response from the US Department of Education.
A letter from Superintendent Beverly Reep to Williams states Williams’ daughter also had violations for cell phone use, disrespectful behavior and leaving school without permission in addition to her dress code violations.
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