Boy, is this school ever caught between a rock and a hard place:
The father of a Muslim girl suspended from her Muskogee school for wearing a religious head scarf said he hopes to avoid litigation by speaking with school officials Friday. Nashala Hearn and her parents are scheduled to meet with school officials to appeal the 11-year-old's suspension for wearing a hijab in violation of the district's dress code.
She has worn the headdress, which Muslim women wear for religious reasons, since Aug. 18, the first day of class at Benjamin Franklin Science Academy...But on Sept. 11, Nashala said she was called to the principal's office and had to call her parents about the hijab. They were told the headwear violated school policy...
A civil liberties group has threatened to sue the Muskogee school district if the controversy isn't resolved. John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute in Virginia, said Thursday he was appalled at Nashala's suspension.
"The courts have been clear that religious faiths have to be accommodated, even in the public schools, especially if it is part of their faith," Whitehead said of the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
But Superintendent Eldon Gleichman isn't backing down. The dress code, which forbids the wearing of hats, caps, bandanas, or other headwear at school, was established to curb gang activity, Gleichman said.
Benjamin Franklin won't show favoritism to any religion, school officials said.
So headwear has to be banned, because the gang problems are too bad at Benjamin Franklin? It seems very odd, indeed, that religious headdresses are not allowed, as this ban affects yarmulkes as well. In its effort not to show "religious favoritism," the school is on a course guaranteed to offend a religious group at some point.
Posted by kswygert at October 13, 2003 12:45 PM