A straight A student was almost arrested because of this shirt
A senior student from Hickory Ridge High School in North Carolina is worried about her college future after being suspended for 10 days and prohibited from attending her graduation — all because of a dress code violation that quickly escalated.
Summer is an honour roll student, reportedly has straight As, with a 4.4 GPA and a full scholarship to a big university. She says she was eating lunch this past Wednesday in the school cafeteria when her principal came up to her and asked if she had a jacket to cover up. Summer was wearing a green shirt, pictured above, that exposed her collarbone and the tops of her shoulders, but the school dress code states that off-the-shoulder tops are prohibited.
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According to the incident report, Summer twice said “My shirt is fine,” even after the principal cited her exposed lower back. Finally, a friend gave Summer a jacket to cover up with.
“I pulled it up, put the jacket over it, zipped up the jacket,” Summer said in an interview with WCNC. But then the principal allegedly said that Summer would have to go to the control room to change her clothes.
“I completely understand why a dress code is put into place but I feel like after I put on that jacket it should have been subdued,” Summer said in her interview.
According to Summer, she’s had a few incidents with her principal over the years. It got to the point where Summer’s mother informed school administrators that they’d have to contact her directly before any disciplinary action was taken against her daughter – so when the principal asked Summer to go to the control room, she stayed put.
“I said ‘I apologize, but I can’t go anywhere with you unless my mom is on the phone.'”
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Except, school officials couldn’t reach Summer’s mom, so Summer left for the school auditorium with her friends. Shortly after, Summer says the principal entered the auditorium and told everyone to leave — except for Summer. She alleges the principal then threatened to have the school resource officer (SRO) arrest her.
According to Summer: “The SRO was within five feet of me, he had his hand on his gun. She (the principal) said ‘I’m gonna give you an ultimatum. We have tried to call your mother. You either come with me to the control room to change your shirt or we will arrest you.”
Summer stayed put and tried to reach her mom again. “Just like a lot of role models that I have looked up to stayed in their seats,” she said. “I mean you have to stand up for what you believe in.”
Miraculously, before the officer could handcuff Summer, her mom called back. Only then did she agree to go to the control room where she was officially handed a 10-day suspension for “insubordination” — specifically that Summer didn’t listen and that she denied her shirt was an issue. She’s also not allowed to attend any senior activities, including graduation.
“It’s just sad because I worked so hard for four years to walk across that stage. We have drug dealers walking across that stage, and we have sex offenders walking across that stage and then the 4.4 student who showed her shoulders can’t.”
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School officials haven’t publicly commented on the incident as yet, but Summer’s mom is appealing the decision. So far this year 45 female students at that school were reportedly sent to the principal’s office for wearing leggings with shirts that weren’t considered long enough. Summer says she respects the dress code but the escalation of this situation is a lot to take on.
“This is my life, I’m on a pre-med track,” she said. “A full ride means so much and that is on the line right now.”
According to Summer, the school principal is still considering expelling her.
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