NAPA VALLEY -- A Napa Valley middle school's decision to bar a child from class last winter for wearing a pair of Tigger socks has proved costly.
The Napa Valley Unified School District is on the hook for at least $95,000 in lawyers' fees under a legal settlement announced Thursday between the district and five Napa families who challenged the school's dress code.
That's enough to pay the salaries of two teachers for a year, but it's only about a quarter of what the district would have had to pay if it went on to lose the Tiggergate lawsuit instead of settling.
"We made an economic decision not to continue spending limited district resources defending a lawsuit," said Superintendent John Glaser.
He said the $95,000 fee is for the plaintiffs' lawyers alone. The district must also pay the outside lawyers it hired.
"I don't know what the total of those fees is," Glaser said. "I'm afraid to even estimate."
He said it was possible the figure could meet or exceed $95,000.
Under the settlement, Redwood Middle School may no longer require students to wear only solid-color clothing or limit children's choice of fabrics as it had for nine years before ending that policy in August.
Any student disciplined for violating the policy during the last six years may also have that record expunged, according to the settlement. And parents may opt out of any future uniform requirement at the school.
"Wow, I think it's, like, really great that we've got it finally settled," said Toni Kay Scott, 14, who wore the controversial socks with the Winnie the Pooh character on the first day of school last year. "It's pretty awesome."
Toni Kay, now in high school, wore the socks and a prohibited denim skirt in an act of civil disobedience supported by her mother. A handful of other classmates joined her, wearing prohibited attire such as jeans and a "Jesus Freak" T-shirt.
A school police officer escorted them to the principal's office, and they were barred from class.
"I wasn't, like, too nervous because it's not like I was going to go to jail or anything," she said. "I thought it was pretty ridiculous. It's a Disney character. All the little kids wear it, and once we're in middle school we're not allowed to wear it anymore? That's over the top."
But the case was not just about a pair of Tigger socks, said lawyer Julia Harumi Mass of the ACLU of Northern California, who represented the families. "It's really about freedom of expression and tolerating individuality, which are core values of our society."
The Napa Valley Unified School District is on the hook for at least $95,000 in lawyers' fees under a legal settlement announced Thursday between the district and five Napa families who challenged the school's dress code.
That's enough to pay the salaries of two teachers for a year, but it's only about a quarter of what the district would have had to pay if it went on to lose the Tiggergate lawsuit instead of settling.
"We made an economic decision not to continue spending limited district resources defending a lawsuit," said Superintendent John Glaser.
He said the $95,000 fee is for the plaintiffs' lawyers alone. The district must also pay the outside lawyers it hired.
"I don't know what the total of those fees is," Glaser said. "I'm afraid to even estimate."
He said it was possible the figure could meet or exceed $95,000.
Under the settlement, Redwood Middle School may no longer require students to wear only solid-color clothing or limit children's choice of fabrics as it had for nine years before ending that policy in August.
Any student disciplined for violating the policy during the last six years may also have that record expunged, according to the settlement. And parents may opt out of any future uniform requirement at the school.
"Wow, I think it's, like, really great that we've got it finally settled," said Toni Kay Scott, 14, who wore the controversial socks with the Winnie the Pooh character on the first day of school last year. "It's pretty awesome."
Toni Kay, now in high school, wore the socks and a prohibited denim skirt in an act of civil disobedience supported by her mother. A handful of other classmates joined her, wearing prohibited attire such as jeans and a "Jesus Freak" T-shirt.
A school police officer escorted them to the principal's office, and they were barred from class.
"I wasn't, like, too nervous because it's not like I was going to go to jail or anything," she said. "I thought it was pretty ridiculous. It's a Disney character. All the little kids wear it, and once we're in middle school we're not allowed to wear it anymore? That's over the top."
But the case was not just about a pair of Tigger socks, said lawyer Julia Harumi Mass of the ACLU of Northern California, who represented the families. "It's really about freedom of expression and tolerating individuality, which are core values of our society."
