Hamilton High Suspends Girl for Christmas T-shirt but Says Okay to Hijabs - National Report | National Report:Mia’s mother Gina Mendez spoke with local reporters about her daughters punishment.
“The district’s policies are way out of line. There are Muslim girls who attend school at Hamilton and four or five of them frequently wear hijabs.
Tell me that isn’t a religious symbol. If a hijab is permissible attire on campus then how does a T-shirt saying you love Christmas not?”
Hamilton High School principal Jerry Kemp spoke with the National Report about the school’s dress code. Kemp told us, “The district addressed religious attire on campus two years ago and the policy here is the same for all schools in the district. The law states students have a legal right to reasonable accommodation in matters of faith, so long as the attire does not present health or safety concerns. The district recognizes Christian faith does not have a strict dress code as do other faiths. Sometimes this has lead to concerns that our dress code has a disproportionate impact on students of Christian faith, but that is not true.”
Kemp explained, “The hijab is a piece of traditional headwear that is part of the religious and cultural beliefs of students of Islamic faith.
Wearing a hijab is derived from and mandated in the Quran.
While the district recognizes a students rights to wear a hijab, it does not recognize a T-shirt that has text promoting a religious holiday or belief.
Christian students are not mandated by their faith to wear specific religious garb.
We do not allow students on campus to wear clothing that says, I love guns, drugs, or sex either.”
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