12-Year-Old Suspended Because Her Jeans Were Too Tight

Rachel Bertsche
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A 12-year-old student was forced to miss three days of school over a dress-code violation that may be tough to spot by looking at the picture of her outfit. According to administrators, her pants were too tight.

Morgan Hull, a student at the Franklin Community Township School Corporation in Indianapolis, went to school last Wednesday in a pair of jeans that were deemed in violation of the school’s dress code because they were too form-fitting. As a result, Morgan was sent to in-school suspension.

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Morgan’s mother, Traci Hull, says she found out about the suspension in an email from the school. Traci says she sent Morgan in a new pair of pants on Thursday, but she was again told they were too tight. The same thing happened Friday. “She is extremely petite, so trying to find clothes that fit her is difficult,” Hull told RTV6. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate to send her to school in sweatpants. It’s dumbfounding; I just don’t get it.”

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Morgan Hull was given an in-school suspension for wearing these jeans. (Photo: RTV6)

The pants were not revealing or low-cut, Traci pointed out. “She is completely covered,” she said. “There’s no cleavage or anything exposed.”

According to school rules, Morgan was entitled to either change her clothes or serve two more in-school suspensions on Thursday and Friday. Instead, her parents decided to take the girl home and have her marked absent rather than be disciplined for her choice of pants. “She is not getting the proper education. She is behind in school and we are spending … days focused on pants that are too tight. It is unfathomable to me that there is this big of an issue on her dress code and not her education,” Traci told RTV6.

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According to the Franklin Community Township School Corporation dress code, “Pants must be fitted and worn at the waist. The pants must be at least knee length and not long enough to drag on the floor.” But not, it seems, too fitted, as the dress code also states that clothes that are “form fitting” are “never acceptable.”

In a statement provided to RTV6, school superintendent Dr. Flora Reichanadter said, “As a high-performing school district, the Franklin Township Community School Corporation believes in maintaining a safe and orderly school environment. There are and will be times in which some styles of clothing are not appropriate or conducive to the school environment and should be kept as an option outside of school. Our school handbook is very specific regarding the dress code for middle school students.”

Morgan’s parents say the school’s concern with the girl’s clothing is new, as she’s been wearing the same pairs of pants all year. “I don’t see any problem with the clothes she’s wearing,” Rodney Bentley, Morgan’s father, said. “There are shorts I won’t let her wear. There are times I say no, but these pants I have no problem with.”

Even so, the family is on the hunt for new pants that meet the school’s requirements. “We can’t miss any more work,” Traci said. “And she can’t miss any more school.”

(Top photo: RTV6)


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