Will Harrison County schools change dress code policies after students miss graduation?

Parents and LGBTQ+ advocates on Monday demanded that the Harrison County School District change their dress code policies that they say target girls and trans students.

A small group convened at the district’s school board meeting after at least two students were pulled from graduation stages because of dress code violations.

“You need to really, seriously consider a policy change,” McKenna Raney-Gray, an LGBTQ+ justice attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, told the Board.

“This will continue to happen if it is not addressed now,” Mississippi Rising Coalition President Lea Campbell said.

A group brought signs and posters in support of LGBTQ+ students. The outcry came after Harrison Central High School forbade a transgender student from wearing a dress to graduation in May.

District leaders have said the student and her mother signed a dress code form that required boys to wear a shirt and tie. The student, a transgender teen identified as L.B., had worn girl’s clothing her entire high school career and thought she’d be able to follow the girl’s dress code.

Board members were not available for comment at the meeting and said they could not discuss ongoing matters involving individual students. During the meeting, School Board President Eric Simmons said the district would take the comments under advisement.

“Policies do change,” he said. “We will discuss.”

The Sun Herald has also reached out to Superintendent Mitchell King’s office.

The ACLU of Mississippi filed suit on behalf of L.B. last month. A federal judge ruled in favor of Harrison County School District leaders because he said enforcing the dress code did not pose “irreparable injury” to the student. L.B. later dismissed her lawsuit.

Courts generally permit dress codes if they pose equal burdens on both sexes, but a federal study last year found enforcement often targets LGBTQ students, students of color and girls over other groups.

Caren Dallas attended the meeting and said her daughter, Jai, was also pulled from the graduation lineup because she wore black pants and a white blouse when the girls dress code required all white.

“My daughter will never be able to have that moment back,” Dallas said. “Ever.”