MARSHALL, Mich. -- A Marshall Middle School parent expressed her outrage on social media Wednesday after her daughter was told by one of her teachers that her outfit could be "distracting to boys."
Local parent Brooke Fields posted a photo to the Enquirer's Facebook page Wednesday with a picture of her daughter, who was wearing black leggings, a long-sleeve shirt and a chunky scarf.
"My daughter was told by a teacher at Marshall Public Schools that she was a distraction to the boys today," Fields wrote. "My straight A student was called out in front of the class and told the boys were staring at her. If I wouldn't have been home, she would have had to sit in ISS (in school suspension) all day. This is wrong."
Marshall Middle School Principal David Turner said in an email that "the incident as described on Facebook is not accurate" for a variety of reasons, including that the student was never going to be suspended.
Turner said the student in question was "talked to privately" at the teacher's desk, and that the student was asked to visit the school office to "have administration check that the clothing did not violate the dress code policy" and "avoid future questioning by other teachers (situation occurred during the first class)."
In his email, Turner said the student in turn questioned why she had to visit the office, which "then drew attention to the situation."
"The teacher explained the following: the staff talked to all students about the dress code recently (within the last two weeks), stated that tights can be worn but clothing must cover mid thigh, that she had been talked to before about dress code items, that her clothing could be distracting to boys," Turner wrote.
The student did in the end go to the office and Turner talked with the student's parent. Turner emphasized the student was not suspended from school "nor would have been suspended."
He said the parent took the student back home, and said that move was "their decision." The student eventually went back to school and attended her classes.
Turner said the student's clothing violated the school's dress code, which states students "may wear jeans, slacks, shorts that extend past the mid-thigh (mid-thigh is determined as halfway between inseam and knee), gauchos or Capri pants." A student can't have any holes or distressed areas in their clothes above the mid-thigh level. Dresses and skirts have to reach mid-thigh, even if a student is wearing leggings or tights, according to the code.
Leggings, jeggings, yoga pants, tights or tight-fitting bottoms cannot be worn during the school day if they don't fit the above requirements, according to the policy.
Turner said if the parent had not taken her daughter home, the student could have stayed at school and gone to her classes.
"She would have been asked to not wear that again," Turner said.
Discipline for students who violate the dress code increases in severity the more they break those rules. For the first and second offense, school officials ask students to not wear that type of clothing again and they document the incident. On the third offense, a student would get one after-school detention and on the fourth offense, a student would get three after-school detentions.
If the student violated the dress code for a fifth time, he or she would get three days in school suspension.
Contact Safiya Merchant at 269-966-0684 or smerchant@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter: @SafiyaMerchant
