American school lifts ban on kilts

Published on Wednesday 11 January 2006 11:40

THE AMERICAN school that prevented a student from wearing his kilt to a dance has backed down from its tough stance and issued a formal apology.

The stunning reversal by the Jackson R-II School District in Missouri followed a grassroots effort from a clan association and the media to raise awareness of the incident.

Nathan Warmack, a student at Jackson High School, attended a school dance in November wearing a red-and-black kilt to show pride in his Scottish heritage. The school principal, Richard McClard, blocked Nate's entry to the dance amid fears the kilt would cause an unnecessary distraction. McClard allowed the student to enter the dance after he changed into trousers.

Within weeks the Clan Gunn Society of North America placed a petition online that called for an apology from McClard, while Nate's family sought a change in the school's dress code. The Warmacks also secured an attorney to assist in their fight. These efforts paid off, surprisingly all at once.

At a regularly scheduled school board meeting on Monday night, the school district issued a letter of apology on behalf of McClard and amended the district's policy to permit cultural dress in school. Nate attended the meeting wearing his kilt. He plans to wear it to the prom and is now permitted to attend class in the traditional attire if he desires.

Beth Gardner, a Texas-based member of the Gunn society who attended the meeting, says: "They admitted that the school had no right to require that he [Nate] remove his kilt or be evicted from the dance. They will be sending out flyers to the students to address the ammended dress code prior to the prom this spring."

The board also announced plans to institute cultural sensitivity training for school district employees.

The petition received approximately 12,000 signatures from people around the world. The story was picked up by this website on 6 December when only 450 signatures had been collected.

"I really believe the worldwide support made all the difference," Gardner notes.