A furious dad has spoken out after his 11 year-old-daughter’s school gave her an all-day detention because they said her baggy hoodie and leggings violated the dress code.
Police lieutenant Clint Fore, from Harrison County, Mississippi, in the US, said his daughter had never previously been in trouble at school and he was shocked when she arrived home saying she had been given an all-day in-school suspension because her clothes were "inappropriate".
Fifth grader Shiloh Fore had gone to classes that morning in black leggings and a baggy hoodie that came "almost down to her freaking knees", her dad said.
But the principal of West Wortham Elementary and Middle School did not agree.
When Shiloh arrived at school she said she was immediately stopped by principal Michael Weaver who told her she had to spend the whole day in in-school suspension, or ISS, because she had violated the school's dress code.
The 11-year-old said she was just one of many students, all of whom where female, who had been stopped by the principal and sent to ISS for clothing violations that day.
Shiloh said she had been left embarrassed and upset and described her experience in ISS as "scary" and "it made me have a lot of anxiety".
Shiloh said. “My hand wouldn’t stop shaking. And I did not know what to do.”
Dad Clint wrote an angry email to the principal saying his daughter had been treated unfairly, attaching a photograph of her in the clothes which had caused the issue.
“Here we are in 2022 and girls have to worry about wearing outfits that aren’t even inappropriate,” he wrote.
“Young kids, especially girls at or around my daughter’s age are going through a bunch of changes. The last thing they need is somebody embarrassing them in the hallway for wearing something that is perfectly appropriate."
Mum Ashton also posted the pic on Facebook saying: “West Wortham seems to think this is inappropriate enough to put my daughter in ISS for the day for a dress code violation without notifying her parents.”
The hoodie, a gift from a family friend and teacher at the school, was “two sizes too big, almost,” Ashton said.
Ashton’s Facebook post drew over 75 comments, many from other angry parents with kids at the school.
Harrison County elementary school dress code states that leggings can only be worn with a top “longer than finger tip in length.”
While photos taken by her parents show that Shiloh’s sweatshirt did extend beyond her fingertips, she says her backpack caused it to ride up slightly higher than the approved length.
Shiloh told her dad that the Principal Weaver made her hold her arms to her sides, to see if her hoodie was below her fingertips and then she said “he told me to pull up my hoodie so that he could see my shirt”, to see if it was long enough.
Weaver reportedly denied asking Shiloh to raise her hoodie in an email response to dad Clint and declined to comment to reporters.
The school district’s dress code policy states that if a student is found to be dressed inappropriately then parents must be informed and asked to bring a change of clothes.
In the email, the principal apologised for not notifying Shiloh’s parents of her suspension but did not explain why Shiloh’s parents weren’t notified.
