Scott County school board changes dance policy

A policy that did not allow same-sex dates at the prom and other student dances was removed from the student handbook by the Scott County Central School Board on Monday.

The change comes after efforts made by Stacy Dawson, an openly gay senior at Scott County Central High School, to be allowed to bring his same-sex date to the prom in April.

The Scott County Central student handbook regarding dates to the prom or other dances had read "high school students will be permitted to invite one guest, girls invite boys and boys invite girls." The school board unanimously removed the "girls invite boys and boys invite girls" clause.

Dawson, who first sought approval in September to bring his date to the prom, was told by an administrator the school board would not allow him to bring another boy because of the now-rescinded handbook policy. School-board member Dee Cookson said on Monday that barring same-sex dates was never the policy's intent.

"It was to stop students from paying a cheaper entry fee to the prom or other dances by going as a couple," Cookson said. "At our dances, it costs less for couples to enter than it does for a single. Sometimes a girl would bring her sister as her date so that it would cost less for both of them. That has actually happened."

Dawson challenged the policy with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Ala. A not-for-profit legal organization that protects the rights of minorities, the law center believed the school district's policy violated Dawson's First Amendment rights to freely express his sexual orientation. The law center, which represented Dawson free of charge, sent a letter to the district's administration on Dawson's behalf that threatened legal action and cited several First Amendment cases regarding the right to free expression by students. One case highlighted the damages that a school district had to pay in trying to keep a same-sex couple from attending prom.

Alesdair Ittelson, the law center attorney who represented Dawson, said earlier this month that "when we presented our legal argument to the school officials in the letter, it's likely they saw the writing on the wall."

It was announced in February that Dawson would be allowed to bring another boy to the prom. But Ittelson said Dawson would remain a client of the law center until the policy regarding dates at Scott County Central's prom and dances had officially changed, a change that came during Monday's meeting of the school board.

Members of the school board harbored no ill will toward Dawson or the change in district policy.

"I have no problem with the vote that was taken," Cookson said. "Children should be treated equally."

"It's no big deal," board member Michael Blissett said.

klewis@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

20794 U.S. Highway 61, Sikeston, Mo.