LELAND, N.C. (AP) โ A North Carolina charter school is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider an appeals court ruling that the school violated female studentsโ constitutional rights by requiring them to wear skirts.
In June, a majority of the full U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the dress code at Charter Day School in Leland violated female studentsโ equal protection rights. The courtโs majority concluded that since public charter schools receive public funds theyโre โstate actorsโ and subject to the Constitutionโs equal protection clause.
In its petition, the school asks the Supreme Court to โreview and reverseโ the 4th Circuitโs decision, arguing that itโs a privately run school that receives public funding through its charter, and therefore itโs not a government-run entity, The StarNewsย reported.
School officials said in a news release Monday that the decision threatens the model.
โThis holding undoes the central feature of charter schools by treating their private operators as the constitutional equivalent of government-run schools,โ school officials said.
North Carolina state law protects charter schools as independent institutions exempt from rules and regulations applicable to public school districts, the school argued.
School founder Baker Mitchell has said the dress code was intended to create a โcode of conduct where women are treated, theyโre regarded as a fragile vessel that men are supposed to take care of and honor.โ For now, the dress code has been changed to allow girls to wear pants in line with the court ruling.
