HARRISBURG, Penn. — A Pennsylvania high school student was apparently suspended after school officials deemed her prom dress showed too much skin. But the girl and the mother say that it has more to do with the teen’s size than the dress.
According to PennLive, Alexus Miller-Wigfall wore a floor-length dress with long sleeves to the Harrisburg High School prom last weekend. But three days after the dance, she was informed that she would have to serve an in-school suspension starting on Friday because her dress was considered “too revealing.”
The suspension was later dropped by the school—but the teen’s mother, Alisha Sneed, says that the school never contacted her about the suspension, or exactly why Wigfall was ever suspended at all.
She says that district officials have so far refused to return her phone calls.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Sneed told PennLive. “I don’t see anything wrong with that dress. What do they want her to wear, a turtleneck?”
Sneed says the school was unhappy with the dress because her daughter is “plus-sized.”
According to the district’s dress code, prom dresses must cover all body parts, including “breasts, upper thighs, crotch, buttocks, etc.”
District officials declined to discuss the teen’s case or any other questions about their prom policy, instead issuing a statement that read:
“The Harrisburg School District believes that proms are celebratory and memorable events in the lives of its students. Our administration, school board, faculty and advisors strive to ensure that students enjoy themselves immensely, while abiding by attire guidelines and expectations that support and promote the elegance of the prom season.”
According to Sneed, other girls at the event were wearing far more revealing dresses than her daughters, and were not punished.
