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LESS THAN 35 STUDENTS WEAR ARMBANDS, 20 SUSPENDED

By Rick Joslin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, October 6, 2006 11:18 PM CDT

Less than 35 students wore black armbands Friday to protest the Watson Chapel School District’s dress code, according to Superintendent Danny Knight.

An estimated 20 pupils were suspended for the day while the others were given warnings, said Knight, who added that the suspended students were guilty of a second violation of the policy.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas said in a Thursday news release that the district would be opening itself “to a slew of First Amendment lawsuits” if it disallowed the students’ protest.

Wendy Crow, founder of the FED UP (Fighting Education-Depriving Uniform Policies) group, which promoted the armband protest during a Sept. 30 rally, said Friday afternoon that she anticipates ACLU staff attorney Holly Dickson will file a petition seeking an injunction on Monday against the district’s “unlawful suspensions” and “intimidation” of students wearing the armbands.

Crow said one of her three children in the district was suspended for wearing an armband on Friday while the other two were “confronted” by school officials and decided to remove their armbands.

Crow had hoped several hundred students would wear the armbands, but felt that many might not “out of fear of retaliation” by district administrators.

Knight said Friday afternoon that he’s not concerned with the ACLU or its talk of legal actions, but he realizes the controversy surrounding the dress code isn’t yet over.

“Our school board will be meeting (in regular session) on Monday night and the dress code will be on the agenda,” he said. “The board will have a special meeting immediately afterward to listen to parental concerns.”

Knight said the board will do a customary review of the uniform policy “toward the end of the current school year” and consider any possible changes at that time.

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