A young woman wearing a sun dress in Florida? Oh, my!
Cameron Boland is by all accounts a model student—captain of the basketball team, class president, delegate for the leadership camp Girl State, and historian for her school's honor society chapter. She won an election to represent her county as a National Honor Society officer, but that
title didn't last long:
Cameron won a coveted election for NHS historian for Lee County in early May and within an hour had been stripped of the title — because of what she was wearing — a spaghetti-strap style sundress.
She even offered to wear a jacket to cover the offensive shoulders, but school officials persisted in stripping her of the honor. Needless to say, her mother, Caroline Boland, and other parents are upset:
"The point is she won an election," Caroline Boland said, adding that for her daughter's perceived infraction there is nowhere in the Code of Conduct where the punishment is to strip a title.
"The first response is supposed to be a verbal warning and then contact with a parent," Caroline Boland said. She said she was not apprised of the issue until her daughter came home and told her what happened.
School representatives say they are "reviewing the situation." Let's hope they come to their senses and do the right thing. Based on the Lee County Schools Code of Conduct manual, it seems they jumped the gun with this
harsh punishment:
Violations of Dress Code will result in the following corrective actions: (1006.07, Florida Statutes)
1st Offense: Verbal Warning and Parent Contact.
2nd Offense: Loss of eligibility for participation in extracurricular activities (maximum of five days). 1 day ISS if not involved in extracurricular activities. Parent Contact.
3rd and Subsequent Offenses: Level II (ISS 2 days) Loss of eligibility for participation in extracurricular activities. (maximum of 30 days), verbal and written parent contact regarding consequences.