‘Scarlet Badge’ Shames Arizona Students With Poor Grades: ACLU

COTTONWOOD, AZ — Forcing Mingus High School students to wear scarlet badges if they’re missing credits or have poor academic performance records not only subjects them to bullying and discrimination, but also is a violation of federal privacy laws, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said in a stern letter to the school district.

All students at the school are required to wear badges featuring the school colors of red, issued to freshmen and sophomores, and gray, issued to juniors and seniors. But juniors and seniors who have fallen behind academically are also required to wear the red badges with numbers corresponding to the grade level they would have to repeat if their marks don’t improve.

“Not surprisingly, students forced to wear bright-red badges have experienced increased bullying, public ridicule, and shaming by other students and teachers,” ACLU Arizona’s legal director, Kathleen E. Brody wrote in a Dec. 28 letter to Mingus Union school Superintendent Genie Gee.

The ACLU letter quotes an unnamed student who“has heard other students call classmates wearing the scarlet badge ‘stupid’ and ‘problem kids.’ ”

Brody said the “scarlet badge” policy violates the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student education records, including report cards, transcripts, disciplinary records, contact and family information, and class schedules. Public school officials may only disclose those records with consent, and only under certain circumstances, the ACLU said, noting that forcing students to wear the “scarlet badge of shame” publicly displays their private information.

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The scarlet badges also violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, the ACLU said in the letter.

The letter said that one of the students required to wear the red badge reported receiving less individual instruction from teachers “because they assume [name redacted] is not interested, motivated or cable of learning.”

“This all causes [name redacted] to experience increased anxiety at school, feel ostracized from other students, and feel stigmatized by teachers and administrators.”

The school district says the colored badge policy is merely a way to distinguish upperclassmen who can leave the campus from those who cannot. Susan Segal, an attorney representing the school district, told Yahoo Lifestyle the school isn’t violating FERPA because it allows the release of directory information, including a student’s “name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, and dates of attendance” unless otherwise stated by the family.

The family of Jordan Pickett, one of the students required to wear the scarlet badges and the center of the ACLU letter, “never opted out of the disclosure of directory information,” Segal said.

According to Yahoo, the school agreed to remove the number 11 from Pickett’s badge. If her mother decides to opt out of disclosing the directory information, the teen will receive a badge that doesn’t indicate her grade or color.

Even if the school district is legally compliant with FERPA, “anyone can clearly see that Jordan isn’t doing as well as expected,” Brody told Yahoo. “There has to be a way for a school to manage this without a sign on a student’s chests. Jordan feels slighted by her teachers or made to feel not as smart, whereas the opposite is true.”

Pickett, who suffers from anemia and misses school to go to medical appointments in Phoenix, was assigned a red badge at the beginning of the school year because she hadn’t earned the required the 12 credits to advance to 11th grade.

“The family says she has a disability, however, there has never been a request for disability designation,” Segal told Yahoo.

Pickett said the red badge she was required to wear at the beginning of the school year gave her teachers an unfavorable impression of her.

Pickett and her friend Jonah Ray, who was also given a red badge at the start of his junior year, asked the school board this fall to consider an option that doesn’t expose their academic struggles to the rest of the student body and teachers.

“Upperclassmen who are missing any credit, whatsoever, any credit, are immediately slapped with a red card,” Ray told AZFamily.com. “I said I like to study history. And a kid immediately chimed in saying ‘You like to study, then why do you have a red card? That must mean you’re stupid or something.’ ”

According to the letter, one of the students required to wear the red badge reported receiving less individual instruction from teachers “because they assume [name redacted] is not interested, motivated or cable of learning.”

“This all causes [name redacted] to experience increased anxiety at school, feel ostracized from other students, and feel stigmatized by teachers and administrators.”

In a statement, the ACLU said: “Mingus should dissolve this identification card system not only to comply with FERPA regulations but to prevent other students from feeling marginalized and excluded like Jordan does. All students should attend school without being branded or bullied by students, teachers, and administrators. Mingus’ ‘scarlet badge’ has resulted in increased bullying, discrimination, and disengagement from school by underperforming students — and along with Jordan, we will fight to make sure that it’s removed for good.”

When the school district didn’t change its policy, the ACLU stepped in with the legal demand letter to rescind the policy. The school district has until Jan. 15 to respond.

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