Judge Upholds Strapless Dress Ban For Readington Middle School Dance

A Somerset County Superior Court judge has upheld the Readington Township Board of Education's ban on strapless dresses for this Friday night's dance.

Parents of two eight-grade girls, Charlotte Nijenhuis and a person identified as M.M, sought a temporary injunction against the ban on he grounds that the school did not give a legally required 3-month notice of a change in school dress code according to the Hunterdon County Democrat.

The lawyer representing both parents, Lisa Eastwood, also argued that the two girls would suffer  "irreparable harm" by not being allowed to wear whatever dress they wanted. "Irreparable harm to a 14-year-old is very different than irreparable harm to a Board of Education," Eastwood told the judge according to the newspaper. "These are once-in-a-lifetime events." The judge disagreed.

Parents were upset at Middle School principal Sharon Moffat, who was also named in the parents lawsuitm  when she prohibited the dresses because she said they distract boys. Some parents said such a statement was sexist while others said they had already purchased their daughters’ dresses.

A compromise was reached at a May BOE meeting in which strapless dresses would be allowed as long as the dress included a clear or single spaghetti strap.