A Pacetti Bay Middle School mother wants change at her daughter's middle school in St. Johns County.
Michele Faris, a mother of two, says girls are unfairly targeted at Pacetti Bay Middle School by the school board’s dress code.
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Faris says she noticed it two years ago -- when her first daughter brought it up to her.
“When my daughter first started going to Pacetti Bay, [she'd say] 'Mom, do you realize the only people I’ve ever seen get dress-coded are girls?'" Faris said.
Faris has started a Change.org petition to stop what she calls sex discrimination against girls through the dress code. The petition already has nearly 1,500 signatures.
Faris said: “The reaction tells you it's a big problem, the number of signatures. And there are other schools where other parents contacted me to tell them them it's a problem too."
In the code, Action News Jax counted almost twice as many dress code rules for girls than boys. The school district says this is due to the fact that there are more clothing options for girls than boys.
The district maintains that they are not disproportionately targeting girls and do not stop class to conduct checks.
But Faris says that is not true and her daughters class was searched.
“The entire school is disrupted for what I determined a witchhunt," Faris said.
Faris says administrators searched classrooms for dress code violators, a practice that affected more girls. Still, some other district parents have no issue with the code.
Parenr Nancy Taylor said: "If the issue is girls wearing shorts that are too short, boys are not normally going to wear shorts that are too short.”
Faris agrees some rules should remain in place, but hopes to start a dialogue about what those rules should be.
Cox Media Group
