NC school's dress code requiring skirts receives mixed ruling from appeals court

A federal appeals court on Monday tossed out a lower-court ruling that banned a North Carolina charter school from requiring girls to wear skirts.

Charter Day School, a public charter school in Leland, N.C., that serves elementary and middle school students, was sued in 2016 by parents who objected to the dress code. The rules required girls to wear skirts, jumpers or skorts, except on gym days. In 2019, a federal judge ruled that the dress code was unconstitutional because the charter school should be considered a state actor and that the rule violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.