Constitutional Law

Ill. teen says high school suspended him for wearing rosary

By By The Associated Press

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — A southwestern Illinois high school student says he has been suspended for five days for wearing rosary beads to school.

Collinsville High School sophomore Rodrigo Avila told St. Louis? KSDK-TV that he wore the beads for religious reasons and that he got them from his godfather as a gift.

But school administrators told him he no longer could wear them at school because they were considered gang-related, and administrators later suspended the teenager, Avila says.

The school?s dress-code policy does not specifically bar rosary beads but states anything associated with possible gang affiliation isn?t allowed. Avila and his mother insist he?s not in a gang.

The code does state that the principal has the final say in judging a student?s appearance.

A message was left with the district?s superintendent was not returned in time for this story.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on February 27, 2011 (boomark / email).