BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Chasity Glass, left, and Somer Chipman, both 17, anounce at the press conference that the lawsuit.
(Patrick Reddy photo)
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COVINGTON -- Rural Grant County schools are a national example of how unfairly teen mothers are treated, attorneys said Thursday as they sued the district on behalf of two seniors.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorneys said two teen mothers at Grant County High School were denied National Honor Society membership because of their pregnancies.
A federal discrimination lawsuit was filed Thursday because the school singled out girls who were obviously pregnant and blocked them from National Honor Society membership under standards of "character," the ACLU attorneys said.
"This lawsuit has much larger implications," said Sara Mandelbaum, senior staff attorney for the ACLU's Women's Rights Project. "All over the country, school districts are not complying with regulations that prohibit discrimination against pregnant students."
Somer Chipman and Chasity Glass, both 17 and both with qualifying grades and extracurricular activities, were barred from their high school's honor society this spring.
The school board has upheld the decision -- despite requests for further explanations from the girls' families and the ACLU -- saying the girls did not fully meet requirements in the areas of scholarship, service, leadership and character.
"I do not advocate premarital sex. (Being a parent) is a lot of work," said Chasity, mother of 15-month-old Shelby. "But I feel that I owe it to myself, Shelby and others. If no one stands up now, it will continue to happen."
The ACLU is taking the case for free because the group wants to see wider enforcement of federal sex discrimination laws, Ms. Mandelbaum said.
She said the case will likely cost tens of thousands of dollars and expected the costs to be similar for the district.
School spokeswoman Ruth Odor said the district could not comment on pending litigation. School board attorney Donald Ruberg said he was distressed by the ACLU's estimate of the case's costs, adding he could not make specific comments on the suit.
The case could be settled quickly if the school board would agree to admit Somer and Chasity to the honor society, Ms. Mandelbaum said.
In the meantime, Ms. Mandelbaum said she will ask the court for a an immediate court order that would allow Somer and Chasity to be inducted as National Honor Society members until the case is settled.
Charges in the suit
The suit charges the Grant County school board illegally discriminated against the students in violation of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against pregnant or parenting adults.
The lawsuit also charges that the district violated prohibitions against sex discrimination in the state and federal Constitutions and the Kentucky Civil Rights Act.
At issue, Ms. Mandelbaum said, is whether it's legal for a school district to apply a double standard. "They are completely ignoring the fact that sex is a two-way activity. This case is about equal treatment, not special treatment."
Ms. Mandelbaum said the ACLU will investigate how students were selected for membership. If necessary, the ACLU will survey students to find out whether any others were engaging in premarital sex.
"We don't relish the idea of getting into people's personal lives," Ms. Mandelbaum said. "And we don't think it's appropriate for schools to do it, either."
At the time of inductions, Somer was pregnant and Chasity was already a mother. (Somer gave birth June 1 to Cheyenne. She and her fiance, Shawn Hurston, are getting married today. Somer has a 3.9 grade-point average and Chasity a 3.7. Both girls are in extracurricular and outside activities.
Both girls plan to return to school this fall, go to college and pursue careers: Somer wants to be a nurse and Chasity wants to be a high school English teacher.
