Skirt Rule at Charter School Is Unequal Treatment, 4th Cir. Told

Three female North Carolina charter school students told the full Fourth Circuit on Friday during oral argument that their school’s rule requiring girls to wear skirts, jumpers, or “skorts” is state action under the U.S. Constitution and violates their equal protection rights.

Charter Day School, which is located northwest of Wilmington, is a “state actor” because the state delegated some of its constitutional obligation to provide a free public education to North Carolina children when it granted CDS’s charter, the three students and their parents said. Roger Bacon Academy Inc., which runs CDS under a separate contract directly with the ...