School Violence Prevention Act -- The ACLU of North Carolina is a member of Prevent School Violence NC, a coalition of advocacy organizations, educators, parents and students who worked with North Carolina legislators to enact the School Violence Prevention Act of 2009 (SVPA). The SVPA provides strong protections against bullying and harassment for all students. The law specifically covers acts of bullying motivated by the victim's real or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, academic status, gender identity, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, developmental, or sensory disability. In response to the bill's passage, our friends at Equality North Carolina have created the School Violence Prevention Act Implementation Toolkit, which is designed to provide "critical information for students, parents and advocates to ensure that their school is living up to its obligations under the new law and doing everything in its power to create a safe place to learn."

Hoke County v. State Board of Education (Leandro case) -- Under the Leandro court decision, all students in North Carolina are entitled to a sound, basic education. In late May 2005, Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning issued a landmark decision in the form of a report, concluding that many North Carolina high schools are currently not in compliance with the requirements of the North Carolina Constitution. In that report, Judge Manning urged the State of North Carolina to address the “educational genocide” taking place in many high schools. A coalition that includes the ACLU-NCLF, Carolina Legal Assistance, Legal Aid of NC, UNC Center for Civil Rights, and the NC Justice Center) have been deeply involved in this ongoing litigation as amici, or “friends of the court,” offering legal expertise, analyses and advice to the Court at every stage of the proceedings. At this time, the coalition of organizations and attorneys working on the Leandro case is continuing to monitor the progress in this important litigation, and we are committed to ensuring that all of North Carolina’s children receive the education that our Constitution guarantees to them.

Racially Segregated Assemblies at Dillard Drive Middle School in Raleigh -- On Tuesday, December 4, 2007, Dillard Drive Middle School Principal Teresa Abron forced all African-American and Hispanic students from seventh grade classes to attend segregated assemblies following an altercation that morning between an African-American student and a Hispanic student. The school district indicated repeatedly that it planned to take no action to ensure that this type of discrimination does not occur in the future. Further, the principal was quoted by the press as stating that she would take the same action again. Accordingly, we represented two parents in filing a complaint with the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”). Even after mediation, the school district refused to resolve the matter. We are excited to announce that on February 26, 2009, OCR issued its “Letter of Findings” in this case. In the Letter of Findings, the OCR stated that “there is sufficient evidence to find that the District did, in fact, treat students differently based on their race when School administrators made the decision to require African American and Hispanic students to attend two separate assemblies based on their race.” In response to the findings, the school district has agreed to issue a public apology school-wide and has also agreed in writing never to repeat the actions of 12/4/07. This acknowledgment will appear in Wake County Public School System’s permanent OCR record.

Edgecombe County Gay-Straight Alliance matter -- In January 2008, the ACLU-NCLF received a request for assistance from the parent of a lesbian student at Southwest Edgecombe High School in Edgecombe County. The student was seeking to form a GSA club at her high school, and was told by the principal that “clubs are only allowed to start at the beginning of the school year.” This principal had previously harassed the student for kissing another girl at a JV football game and had written her up for a behavior violation. After several discussions between ACLU-NCLF and the school board attorney, the student was permitted to form a GSA club immediately. Additionally, the violation for the “kissing incident” has been removed from her school record. The ACLU-NCLF was also able to secure the return of certain privileges the student lost after being reprimanded for the “kissing incident.”

Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs in Rowan County High Schools -- The ACLU-NCLF was contacted by the National Conference for Community and Justice in Charlotte, an organization working with youth to help them start diversity clubs and Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs). Several students who attend high school in Rowan County have been trying to start a GSA club in their high school but have been running into problems with the school administration. Additionally, the Rowan County School Board unanimously passed a motion on April 10, 2006, to "to adopt a board policy to ban all sexually oriented clubs, gay/straight or otherwise, and to address any student emotional issues concerning the above with our guidance counselors, if the creation would materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school." However, largely because of concerns raised by the ACLU-NC, the policy is still in the drafting/revision stages and is not yet scheduled for consideration at a school board meeting. We are working hard to kill this homophobic, discriminatory and illegal measure once and for all. On June 23, 2006, the ACLU-NCLF sent letters to all principals of Rowan County high schools as well as the school superintendent, informing those school officials that the Equal Access Act requires the schools to permit the students to form these clubs. The Act specifically provides that a school cannot deny equal access to student activities because of the “religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.”

Douglas Byrd Graduation Ceremony Dress Code -- A mother in Cumberland County, contacted the ACLU-NCLF complaining that her daughter was to be prevented from participating in graduation at Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville the following day unless her daughter agreed to wear a dress and high heels, pursuant to school policy. The young woman wanted to comply with the graduation dress code for boys by wearing a suit and tie. The ACLU-NCLF sent a letter to the Cumberland County superintendent and the Douglas Byrd High principal, arguing that the school's gender-specific graduation dress code violated, among other rights, the young woman's right to Equal Protection under the 14th Amendment. The school refused to back down, and the young woman was prevented from participating in the graduation ceremony. In light of a comment in the media by a school board member who acknowledged the possibility of changing the graduation dress code policy for next year, the ACLU-NC will challenge the school board to adopt a gender-neutral dress code policy, and we are not ruling out the possibility of legal action if the school board refuses to do so.

Burke County Public Schools – Controversy of Banning The Kite Runner from Curriculum -- The ACLU-NCLF received several calls and letters from Burke County residents regarding a controversy over whether to ban The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, from Burke County Public Schools. Concern were raised about reports that certain school board members wished to override Burke County Public Schools’ regular review process and summarily remove the book. Accordingly, the ACLU-NCLF sent a public records request to the school board on March 5, 2008, seeking additional information about this matter. On March 25, 2008, we learned from the Burke County school board attorney, Sam Aycock, that the book underwent the regular review process, and the Media/Technology Committee at the school voted unanimously to retain the book. In May, we learned that the System-Wide Media and Technology Committee upheld the decision of the local school committee. This decision was also affirmed by the Superintendent. The parents who had complained about the book have formally appealed the system-wide decision to the school board. In sum, it appears that the review procedure is being followed.

Lumbee Student’s Efforts to Wear Ceremonial Eagle Feather at High School Graduation -- The ACLU-NCLF and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) were contacted in May by the parent of a student at Purnell Swett High School in Pembroke who wanted to wear eagle feathers on either his cap or gown during his graduation ceremony on Friday, June 13, 2008. Samuel Bird, father of Corey Bird, contacted the organizations, seeking assistance after Principal Wilkins informed Corey that he could not wear his eagle feathers in light of a mandatory graduation dress code policy that prohibited students from wearing “[m]essages, signs, markings, stringers, ribbons, etc.” on their “cap[s] or gown[s].” Corey indicated that he wanted to wear the feathers for religious and spiritual reasons in order to honor his late mother and grandfather. When it became apparent that school officials intended to stand by Principal Wilkins’s decision to prohibit Corey from wearing his feathers, ACLU-NCLF and NARF sent a letter to the school district on June 5, 2008, urging the district to reconsider its decision. Robeson County is approximately 40% Native American, principally Lumbee, according to the U.S. Census. Consequently, ACLU-NCLF and NARF argued that providing the Lumbee and other Native American students in Robeson County an opportunity to wear their eagle feathers would signify support for this significant portion of the population. The June 5th letter also explained that there is legal authority in this federal district for carving out an exception to the mandatory dress code only for those students (and their parents) who demonstrate a sincerely-held religious belief. In addition to sending the June 5th letter, Rebecca Headen, coordinator of ACLU-NCLF’s Racial Justice Project, and Katy Parker, Legal Director of ACLU-NCLF traveled to Lumberton for the Robeson County School Board meeting on June 10, 2008, and spoke on behalf of Corey and his father. Corey and his father also spoke at the school board meeting. In light of ACLU-NCLF and NARF intervention, the school board decided to resolve the matter informally and permitted Corey to wear his feathers at graduation.

Sampson County Schools Prohibit Student from Wearing American Flag T-shirt -- On September 12, 2007, the ACLU-NCLF received information that a student in Sampson County was banned from wearing an American flag t-shirt to school the previous day to commemorate 9/11/01. The ACLU-NCLF contacted the school board attorney and sent a letter to the principal and superintendent, advising the school officials that this ban violated the student’s First Amendment free speech rights. By the end of the day, the school district notified all parents in Sampson County that the policy would not be enforced. On September 13, 2007, the Sampson County superintendent sent us a letter confirming that the policy had been repealed.

Gamwell v. Williamson -- The ACLU-NCLF came to the aid of a gay student at James Baxter Hunt, Jr., High School in Wilson, North Carolina, after school officials removed two posters promoting his campaign for Student Government Association President referencing the fact that he is gay.

Pledge of Allegiance Statute -- After the passage of Session Law 2006-137, which amends several North Carolina statutes pertaining to the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in state public schools, the ACLU-NCLF received several complaints from parents and teachers who contend that children in North Carolina public schools are being compelled to recite the Pledge and are not being informed that they have the right to refuse to stand, salute the flag, or recite the Pledge, even though North Carolina law clearly provides that a public school “shall not compel any person to stand, salute the flag, or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.” As a result, the ACLU-NCLF sent a letter to the State Superintendent, the Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Education and Lt. Governor Purdue, asking those state officials to immediately instruct all North Carolina Boards of Education to ensure that all public school principals and teachers are aware of this aspect of the law. The State Board Chairman responded, ensuring that all North Carolina superintendents and principals would again be notified that students and teachers may not be compelled to recite the Pledge.