High schools may change dress code The...

High schools may change dress code

The Huntington Beach Union High School District on Tuesday will

consider revising its dress code policy to allow students’ religious

expression.

Trustee Matthew Harper brought the agenda item forward and

suggested the revision in response to a group of Fountain Valley High

School seniors who were left out of their senior picture last year

because of their clothes, Harper said.

A group of students reportedly assembled to form a religious

message in the photo, which Harper believes is not punishable under

the district’s dress code.

Students wore T-shirts that, when put together, formed a crucifix

and spelled out “Jesus [heart] you.”

“My understanding is that they were told to move to the back of

the photo, then to scatter, then to turn their T-shirts inside out or

get another shirt,” Harper said. “No student was given suspension or

other such punishment. Instead, the interference from the school

administrators led to the exclusion of some students from the senior

class photo.”

Harper is proposing that the dress code be revised to articulate

students’ religious clothing rights so administrators have no

question in the future about how to handle a similar situation.

The proposed addition to the dress code is as follows:

“The Huntington Beach Union High School District shall not

restrict students from wearing clothing that is worn in response to,

and as a physical expression of, a sincerely held religious belief.

Such clothing includes, but is not limited to, headwear, jewelry, and

clothing with religious text or symbols.”

There will be a separate agenda item Tuesday that will decide

whether to retake Fountain Valley High School’s senior class photo.

Marina student and dog are tops

Marina High School’s Leila Bicos and her dog Tia competed

Wednesday in the Eukanuba National Championship, a dog show in Long

Beach that requires junior handlers to carry at least a B average.

Leila, 16, won three prizes with the Rhodesian Ridgeback at a Cal

State Long Beach dog show in June, including the prestigious Best In

Specialty Show. She was also awarded as Best Junior Handler and along

with Tia won Best in Sweepstakes. Leila was the youngest competitor

ever to win all three awards, and is now the 12th-ranked junior

handler in the country for all 25 hound breeds and second-ranked for

Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

Competing against 89 of the best junior handlers in the country

Wednesday, Leila faced the second- and third-ranked dogs in the

nation for her breed.

Leila maintains a 4.2 grade point average at Marina while

competing in some of the nation’s most prestigious dog shows. She and

Tia will compete in the Westminster Dog Show in February.

Leila also plays field hockey on Marina’s varsity team and

participates in the Futures program, the Olympic training camp for

field hockey, rides and jumps horses at the Huntington Beach Riding

School two or three times a week and has volunteered at the

Therapeutic Riding Center.