Ensuring Your Student Dress Code Does Not Skirt Equal Protection Laws And Title IX

The Supreme Court denied a North Carolina charter school's petition for review of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that the school's dress code requirements violated students' civil rights, the Equal Protection clause, and, possibly, Title IX. The Supreme Court's decision leaves the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' holdings fully intact.

In Peltier v. Charter Day Sch., Inc., three parents sued a North Carolina charter school due to its requirement that female students wear skirts and dresses, with an exception for specific days upon which the girls took a physical education class. 37 F.4th 104 (4th Cir. 2022), cert. denied, 2023 WL 4163208 (U.S. June 26, 2023). The parents argued that the skirts requirement restricted their children's movement in school, restricted the level of physical activity the children could participate in during recess, and provided less warmth during winter months. The girls were subject to these restrictions solely on the basis