ACLU applauds Rapides Parish School Board for supporting parent in getting 4^th grader with Dreadlocks back in school; religious liberty wins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 2005 

ALEXANDRIA, LA—In a victory for the free exercise of religion in public schools, the ACLU of Louisiana last evening helped a parent persuade the Rapides Parish School Board to reinstate 4^th grader Kyle Bridgewater, who was suspended from L. S. Rugg Elementary in Alexandria because school officials said his Rastafarian dreadlocks violated the dress code.

“We have grave concerns about the fact that the school seized this child’s textbooks and excluded him from school based on his refusal to cut his dreadlocks, without regard to the fact that it reflects his sincerely held religious beliefs,” said ACLU Staff Attorney Katie Schwartzmann.  “The vote in favor of allowing the child to exercise his non-disruptive religious beliefs avoids litigation and is a victory for all schoolchildren in Rapides Parish.”

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union appeared before the Rapides Parish School Board last night to argue the case of two students to practice their faith without official endorsement and attend public school. Bridgewater, a 9-year-old, had been excluded from school since November 18^th, 2005, because his hair is longer than three inches from his scalp, the length allowed by the school’s dress code. As Rastafarians, one tenet of their faith requires that practitioners not cut their hair.  The School Board voted, 6-3, to provide an exception to the schools’ dress code policy. This exception will allow the children to remain true to their faith within the law and continue to attend Alexandria schools.

ACLU cooperating attorney David Benoit appeared as well and spoke to the Board on behalf of the children and their mother.  He said, “The ACLU applauds the decision of a majority of the Rapides Parish School Board to make an exception to its dress code so children can attend school without having to choose between their religion and an education. The courts have held that in order to prevail on a First Amendment claim, a plaintiff must prove only that beliefs regarding the wearing of head coverings and/or engaging in certain hair grooming practices were rooted in religion and sincerely held and that the enforcement of the school dress code has a coercive effect which operated to prevent free exercise of those religious beliefs.”