Dress code remains unchanged

Mike Swanson

The Huntington Beach Union High School District will not change its

dress code policy to allow for religious expression, the board of

trustees decided Tuesday night.

Trustee Matthew Harper suggested changing the policy after 13

Fountain Valley High School students, assembled in two groups, were

stopped from spelling out “Jesus {heart} U” and “Jesus is the Way”

for their senior yearbook photo in October. Eleven of the students

walked out of the picture when told by the vice principal to either

scatter or turn their shirts inside out. The board also ruled Tuesday

that the yearbook photo could not be re-taken.

“I may be a young adult, but I do know right from wrong, and what

was done to us was wrong,” said Fountain Valley High School senior

Katie Agbulos, who was among nine who formed “Jesus {heart} U” in the

front row of the picture.

About 20 attendees spoke at the meeting Tuesday, trading comments

that centered upon students’ freedom of expression and concerns that

religion might take a front-row seat in a public school.

Supt. Van Riley wrote a memo to the board before the meeting

suggesting that it make no additions to the board’s dress code

policy, adding that he supported the administration’s actions against

the students.

“The administration’s actions were not directed at any particular

religious group,” Riley wrote. “If a banner or slogan reading, ‘There

is no God’ or ‘Allah is great’ were displayed, similar actions would

have been taken.... This picture is meant as a public historical

document of the senior class, and not as a religious, political, or

commercial opportunity.”

The board voted 4 to 1 against adding a revision to its policy

that Harper said would clarify that students could form religious

messages in yearbook photos. Harper, who gave the only vote for the

policy change, believed administration acted improperly even without

the revision. The students violated nothing set out in the

administration’s regulations, Harper said, and he believed students

wishing to express themselves in the future could use some ammunition

to back their actions.

Harper suggested the policy be revised to read: “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.”

Board member Susan Henry seconded Harper’s motion for the sake of

discussion, but said there’s nothing in the board’s existing policy

that establishes what students are allowed to wear, and she didn’t

want that to change.

“If we start listing what they may wear, we’re going to need a

much bigger book,” Henry said.

The group expression is what made board member Brian Garland

support administration’s decision. Students could wear clothing

displaying religious messages, Garland said, but he didn’t think they

should be allowed to form a message that attracts attention to itself

and away from other students.

“It’s a bit disingenuous of people to suggest that we’re against

their message,” Garland said. “It’s the forum we’re questioning.”

Four of the students who walked out of the photo spoke at the

meeting, all of whom said they were merely expressing a deeply felt

belief in a country that they felt allowed them to do so.

“We walk by faith, not by sight,” senior Alex Lopez said.

“Persecution is a blessing.”

One of two seniors who spoke against the 13 students’ message said

he didn’t think administration should allow students to form what

appears to be an endorsement of their religion in a class photo

featuring students of varying beliefs. Joe McReynolds compared the

incident to his experience as a freshman of listening to a biology

teacher denouncing evolution and preaching abstinence to his class.

“I don’t think that it shows respect to show that you believe your

faith is right,” Joe said.

The board also voted 4-1 against re-taking the senior photo with

the 13 students in question allowing to wear their letter-bearing

shirts again.

Harper wanted to have both issues taken care of on the board to

avoid possibly moving the issue into a larger forum that’s out of the

board’s hands.

“Who knows what a court will decide, but we can decide as a board,

and I think that’s the right decision,” Harper said.