Delhi Charter School in Louisiana has a new policy to combat teenage pregnancy. The school administrators reserve the right to give any girls they suspect to be pregnant a pregnancy test. If the girls are pregnant they are not able to continue attending the school. Students who refuse to be tested will be removed.
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) believes this policy is a violation of federal law. ACLU representative, Tiseme Zegeye explains this in the following statement.
“The policy’s complete disregard for Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, is astonishing. Title IX and its regulations explicitly mandate that schools cannot exclude any student from an education program or activity, “including any class or extracurricular activity, on the basis of such student’s pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom.”
The ACLU is asking that the school dispel their policy against pregnant students. As of now representatives from Delhi Charter School have not responded to this request.
From Huffintgon Post:
According to Delhi Charter School policy,students “suspected” of being pregnant are required to take a pregnancy test. If the test proves positive, or if a student declines to take the test, she’ll no longer be permitted to take classes on campus and must either transfer to another school or begin a home school program. From the student handbook:
If an administrator or teacher suspects a student is pregnant, a parent conference will be held. The school reserves the right to require any female student to take a pregnancy test to confirm whether or not the suspected student is in fact pregnant. The school further reserves the right to refer the suspected student to a physician of its choice. If the test indicates that the student is pregnant, the student will not be permitted to attend classes on the campus of Delhi Charter School.If a student is determined to be pregnant and wishes to continue to attend Delhi Charter School, the student will be required to pursue a course of home study that will be provided by the school”... Any student who is suspected of being pregnant and who refuses to submit to a pregnancy test shall be treated as a pregnant student and will be offered home study opportunities. If home study opportunities are not acceptable, the student will be counseled to seek other educational opportunities.
BMWK, let us know what you think about this school. Have they gone overboard, or is this exactly what’s needed to ensure the students remain focused on school?