Florida Middle School Apologizes After Student Was Told He Couldn’t Wear GOP Shirt

A projected elephant, the logo of the Republican party, in a Dec. 15, 2018 file photo. A Florida middle school student was incorrectly told to turn a shirt featuring the logo inside out in October 2018. L.E. Baskow/AFP/Getty Images

A Florida middle school has apologized to a student and his mother after the student was incorrectly told he shouldn’t wear a shirt bearing the Republican Party’s elephant logo.

The student’s mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said that her son wore a red, white, and blue shirt that featured the logo to school during “Spirit Week.”

“It was nerd day, so he wanted to be a Republican nerd,” the student’s mother told News 4.

However, the student was confronted by a staff member at the school, Kirby-Smith Middle School. The staffer told the boy to turn the shirt inside out.

When he went home and described what happened to his mother, she contacted the school to inquire about what rule her son had violated. It turned out, he hadn’t violated any rule.

Duval County Public School administrators said the shirt was not in violation of the student dress code, which only prohibits clothing “which are obscene, profane, suggestive or derogatory to others.”

A spokesperson told News 4 that the student didn’t receive a dress code violation, but that the staff member did suggest the student turn the shirt inside out.

A spokesperson told Fox News that the staff member misunderstood the dress code, believing the employee dress code to be the same as the student dress code. The employee dress code prohibits employees from wearing politically-charged shirts while the student dress code does not.

“If an employee were wearing the shirt, it would not have been allowed. We are prohibited from such political expression on the job. However on a student, the shirt is fine,” a spokesperson added to Yahoo.

It’s unclear if the staffer will be punished.

The student’s mother said the school called her to apologize and that she plans on sending her son to school wearing the same shirt again.

Trump Shirt

The incident happened around the same time as a North Carolina high school student was told to take off a shirt that had President Donald Trump’s name on the back.

Matthew Collins, 18, wore the shirt a Harnett Central High School football game in Angier on Oct. 5, where student attendees were asked to dress patriotically for “USA America” night.

The principal of the school called him over at halftime and ordered him to change the shirt.

When he refused, she kicked him out of the game until he finally removed it to get back in.

The school had not yet apologized or reacted to the situation.

From NTD.tv