DELHI,La. (KNOE 8 News) - The Delhi Charter School Board and the principal have yet to open up to us about their school policies. This comes after the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to Delhi Charter, in Richland Parish, calling for the school to strike down its policy toward pregnant students. And those set of rules have others in the area concerned.
Delhi charter is receiving a grade letter "F" for one of its policies from the ACLU.
"Girls who are pregnant today deserve the right to be in class, just the same as women who deserve the right to be in the workplace," ACLU Director Louise Melling said in an interview with CNN.
The school's pregnancy policy is under fire. A letter, sent by the union calls for the education leaders to revise the rules.
"No matter what, there's no policy to justify kicking these girls out of class," Melling said.
School leaders are remaining tight lipped at Delhi Charter to us about their pregnancy policy and whether they issue pregnancy tests to students they suspect is with child.The ACLU says it's a violation of the U.S. Constitution to force a student to take a pregnancy test. If the young teen is indeed going to have a baby,the policy states she must be home schooled or attend a different school.
"I think at Delhi, I mean, the whole thing is a very unfortunate situation," Life Choices Executive Director Lyndsey Sikes said.
The group says the policies open the doors to discrimination, as young girls are treated differently from the guys. The director of the non-profit "Life Choices" in Monroe has a different way of approaching a pregnant teen.
"The support and help would be very important to walk them through a very difficult situation," Sikes said.
The ACLU is calling out the school on another piece of that policy. The one that says if a student turns down a pregnancy test--they
will be treated as if they're having a baby and forced out of the
classroom.
The group says they will file a lawsuit or a complaint with a federal agency if the policy doesn't change.
Friday, May 17 2013 12:09 PM EDT2013-05-17 16:09:18 GMT
FARMERVILLE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - The family of a Farmerville teen who died at football practice last week says it is overwhelmed by the community's gratitude.
FARMERVILLE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - The family of a Farmerville teen who died at football practice last week says it is overwhelmed by the community's gratitude.
Tuesday, May 7 2013 7:51 PM EDT2013-05-07 23:51:36 GMT
BASTROP, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Walking the stage to get your diploma signals the end of a journey. Our Nolan Crane shows us one high school senior whose walking is just the beginning.
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Photo By: Ty Russell
