Suit over socks costs school $95,000

[TJ Phaserman 2]

SAN FRANCISCO - Officials in a Northern California school district might not think Tiggers are such wonderful things after agreeing to pay $95,000 in lawyers' fees to five families who sued the school over its dress code.

ADVERTISEMENT

 

The parents went to court after a student was disciplined for wearing socks with the "Winnie the Pooh" cartoon character Tigger on the first day of school last year.

 

The district's superintendent said Thursday that the settlement money is for the plaintiffs' lawyers; the district is also on the hook to pay the lawyers it hired.

 

The settlement also says Redwood Middle School may no longer require students to wear only solid-color clothing.

 

and another one goes

and another one goes

another school bites the dust

[GhostofMajorHayes 10]

Yes, indeed it did bite the dust.

[trekz 7]

I say "pooh" on their dress code policy. :lol:

 

Winnie the Pooh is a classic character of children's literature and film, and could indicate a positive level of literacy. I would think children could be wearing things that could be much more problematic. And what's with the anti-stripe or spots policy?

[Theunicornhunter 2]

I don't have a problem with schools having dress codes. It does seem to correlate with better behavior and performance. But to be fair and to "not" infringe on free speech the code has to be clear and apply to everyone. So, by requiring solid colors they avoid all cartoons (not all of which would be appropriate), writings, etc.; if they were to say for example Pooh was okay but the South Park kids weren't - now that is when lawsuits would begin.

 

I think it absolutely ridiculous to sue over things like this - that is taxpayer money wasted because parents couldnt' admit they didn't read the dress code rules before sending their kid to school. If they opposed a dress code - the local school board should have been the place to start - not the courtroom. Of course this was San Francisco.