Those Ditzes at WCSD

Last night I was looking over at the Justia.com website, which has the documents for cases filed with the U.S court system. I did a search for the name "Washoe County School District" to see if there were any new lawsuits filed against it. Sure enough, a brand new one from July came up that is a lawsuit filed by a parent who just happens to be an attorney and is filing the lawsuit on behalf of herself and her family.

WCSD has made a big deal out of some of its schools instituting a dress code requiring uniforms to be worn ala parochial schools. Schools forcing students to dress alike is supposed to improve achievement and reduce disciplinary problems. Most of the few schools that have done this are at Title I schools, which have had some instances of gang activity. Well, one of the district's many moronic principals decided to institute a school uniform policy at one of the highest achieving elementary schools in the state, if not THE highest achieving, Roy Gomm Elementary School. This is a school that according to the lawsuit has 88 percent caucasian students and has NO problems with gangs or any discipline problems. Supposedly the uniform policy went up for a vote with the parents twice, but the many parents who were against it were not allowed access to the actual ballots and raised questions about confidentiality, etc. There was no real security in the voting. The parents who were against uniforms were correct in their concerns because a government entity such as a public school has NO right to infringe on freedom of expression, which is what a student's clothing symbolizes. Schools districts can, of course, put in general guidelines regarding distraction (no bare midriffs, gang-related clothing such as red or blue bandannas, etc.) or health or safety concerns, but requiring specific clothing to be worn to the exclusion of all others is can be seen as unconstitutional. There is a whole slew of case law regarding dress codes and going back decades. The plaintiff noted in her suit that NONE of the high schools in WCSD has a uniform policy probably for legal reasons. These parents who opposed any implementation of a uniform policy had that concern plus the fact there was NO problem with discipline or academic achievement to justify it. This idiotic principal didn't care and she and the person in charge of the uniform policy went ahead anyway and continued with their underhanded tactics. The principal believed she was God and was hellbent on putting in uniforms and to hell with what parents thought.

The plaintiff noted that contrary to district belief, there is NO evidence uniforms are effective in the elementary grades, and the studies they pointed out which backed them actually proved the opposite. Furthermore, the plaintiff nailed the school district for violating state statutes regarding uniforms because only the school board is allowed to implement a uniform policy and not individual school principals. No such policy is in the district's own dress code policy, so the district is busted there. NONE of the officials, from the district's lawyers to the superintendent to the area superintendent to the principal to the school board, even KNEW they were breaking Nevada law.

The lawsuit is so well thought out and reasoned, there is no way the plaintiff will NOT win. However, I have seen nothing about this lawsuit in the local press. It figures; the local media are nothing but stenographers for the school district's press releases. Unless, of course, some kind of sex is supposedly involved (except if is an administrator who commits misconduct). Then it's blathered all over the place.

The Justia.com website is a pay-to-read site, but actually the first ten dollars is free to the user per court rules. The suit is some 70 pages long and is very, very interesting to read. This lawyer/plaintiff has all her legal ducks in a row, citing the district's dress code and individual school dress codes as well as noting Nevada statutes.

The case is Frudden et al v. Pilling et al.

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