ACLU Warns Florida School District Its Dress Code Policies Are Discriminatory | ACLU of Florida | We defend the civil rights and civil liberties of all people in Florida, by working through the legislature, the courts and in the streets.

On July 30, 2021, the ACLU Women's Rights Project and the ACLU of Florida sent a letter to the St. Johns County School District on behalf of the ACLU of Florida Northeast Chapter to express significant and ongoing concerns regarding its dress code policy. In addition to maintaining sex-specific rules in its dress code policy, school officials within the School District have been selectively enforcing its dress code against girls in a manner that reinforces invidious sex stereotypes in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Article I of the Florida Constitution, and the Florida Educational Equity Act. The ACLU urged the School District to revise its dress code policy to immediately remove all sex-specific terms, root out provisions that reflect and reinforce gender stereotypes, take steps to solicit ongoing feedback from parents and students regarding their experiences with the dress code, and implement longer-term measures such as training for school staff and administrators to guard against further discriminatory enforcement.