A decision made in June by the Cranston Public Schools is sparking a firestorm of controversy, as parents weigh in on the district’s policy eliminating gender-specific events, such as mother/son and father/daughter dances.

In late June, it was announced by former Superintendent Peter Nero that all gender-exclusive events held as part of school-sponsored activities conflict with Rhode Island State Law 16:38-1, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all elementary and secondary schools in the state.

“The controversy that has suddenly arisen in a political campaign over father-daughter dances in Cranston is old news – the matter was amicably resolved with school officials over four months ago. And it was resolved for a simple reason: the school district recognized that in the 21st century, public schools have no business fostering the notion that girls prefer to go to formal dances while boys prefer baseball games,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU. “This type of gender stereotyping only perpetuates outdated notions of ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ activities and is contrary to federal law.”

Despite a public outcry, new Superintendent Dr. Judith Lundsten is standing firm on her position. She says the district will be making an effort to create a more inclusive atmosphere for all school events.

"Mr. Nero and I explained to the principals at our June leadership meeting that these types of events needed to be family-friendly and we explained that we had spoken to both the ACLU and our attorneys and that we needed to be in accordance with the law," she said early Tuesday morning.

The formal announcement followed earlier communication with the principals in the spring, when a parent at Stadium School complained to that school's parent organization that her daughter did not have a father to bring to the "Me and My Guy" dance that was being held by the school for the first time.

"We have always held family dances and events but we'd had a lot of requests for this, so we decided to try it," said then-PTO President of Stadium School Shelley Fusco. "We told the mom that it didn't have to be a dad, it could be her grandfather or some other male of her choice, but the mom said that the grandfather worked and didn't want to go to the dance on a Friday night. We changed the name of the dance to ‘Bring the Adult of Your Choice,’ but she still wasn't happy with that and she went to the ACLU.”

The ACLU contacted the school department, alerting central administration to the fact that gender-specific activities which exclude one sex or another were in violation of state and federal laws, and that any activity which is held for one sex in the student population must also be held as a comparable event for the other.

"When we consulted with our legal experts and asked if we could challenge this, we were told that we would probably not prevail if we did," said Lundsten.

According to Lundsten, it was at that point that Superintendent Nero contacted all school administrators, surveying them to find out what types of events were already held and what types of events were scheduled through the end of the school year. The district contacted the ACLU and they agreed to allow these already-scheduled events to take place.

"During the summer we had to contact our partner organizations and let them know that we were only to have all-inclusive events going forward," said Lundsten.

She and Nero worked together with the PTO at Stadium School to make their event open to anyone in the family, and according to Fusco, the child in question did attend the event and did come with an adult male.

"We even invited the mom to attend with her from day one, either as the child's guest or as a volunteer for the event where she could stay the night, but she did not attend or volunteer. She did stop by the event briefly and was upset that the PTO board was there," said Fusco, noting that the PTO board and their event volunteers do work the events that they organize for the school.

Over the summer, Lundsten issued a memo to parent organizations about the decision. She said a copy of the memo was sent to members of the Cranston School Committee, but that they had no jurisdiction on the matter.

“It is my understanding that Superintendent Lundsten is in compliance with the law regarding gender-specific events. What becomes the issue is the legal language, which states that comparable events must be held for both sexes," said citywide committee member Frank Lombardi. "If you hold a Father-Daughter Dance, is a Mother-Son Baseball Game Night comparable?"

According to the ACLU and the school's legal counsel, it is not.

"It is my understanding that comparable events must be the same. If it's Mother-Son bowling then they must offer Father-Daughter Bowling. If they offer one dance, they have to offer another dance, or make it a family dance," Lundsten said. "Now that we are aware of what the law says, we certainly need to abide by that."

Lundsten noted that the word comparable also refers to the financial details. During her years as a principal in Cranston, she saw many of the Sweetheart Dance events require a large financial commitment for families, while events like bowling or attending a baseball game may not be financially comparable.

The response to the announcement, now made public through a Facebook page by Senate candidate Sean Gately, has been mixed across the city.

"I haven't been overwhelmed or inundated by calls or emails up to this morning," said Lundsten early Tuesday morning. "I had one call only and they were very respectful. I've had two emails as of this morning and both were from outside the city. I welcome anyone to come in and talk about it.”

Lundsten said that Gately requested a copy of the ACLU’s letter. Gately says he is hoping to find options regarding the legal terminology for "comparable events."

“In my opinion, they jumped the gun," Gately said on Monday. "I'm upset that there was no School Committee meeting or session for public comment when this started five or six months ago. They sat silent on this one.”

Gately is hoping to get the law changed, and said he has sent a formal request to House Minority Leader Brian Newberry (R-North Smithfield, Burrillville) and Senate Minority Leader Dennis Algiere (R-Westerly, Charlestown) to submit an amendment to RIGL 16 38-1-1.

Lundsten denies that any actions were taken with the intent of covering up the issue, and stressed that one of her major goals as superintendent is transparency and communication.

"There was no conspiracy, no cover up," she said.

Lombardi said that Lundsten was well within her rights and well within the law to handle the issue as she has.

"In dealing with children in a public school setting, you need to be very clear that you are not excluding or offending lifestyles, preferences or religious beliefs and that's why the policy is the way it is. We need to be careful how we treat our students," Lombardi said. "There are certain things that are in the realm of central administration that does not have to rise to the governance of the School Committee. We don't have to micromanage extra-curricular activities. It's her job to do.”

Fellow School Committee member and Cranston parent Stephanie Culhane agrees.

"I'm amazed that this is what it takes to get people angry in this city. They're not angry over the fact that we don't have the money to buy computers for classrooms … they're angry about a dance," she said. "If I thought that legally we had a leg to stand on, I'd fight this, but we don't because this has already been decided by case law, and we're not going to start fighting case law again. I feel that this situation parallels the prayer banner situation. I'm tired of lawyers, I'm tired of fighting and I'm tired of the ACLU. I don't want to take any more time or effort away from what we are supposed to be doing, which is educating our children."

Mayor Allan Fung weighed in midday on Tuesday, stating in a press release that he is discouraged by the decision.

“I am utterly disappointed to have such a time-honored tradition under attack in the name of political correctness. Traditions like this are what make up the fabric of our childhood memories and definitely contribute to the well being of our children as a whole,” he said.

Fung urged the Cranston School Committee to review the decision and encouraged parents to reach out to their committee representative.

The reaction of parents has been mixed as well, with supporters and opponents on both sides of the issue.

"I am pleased to hear these [events] have been cancelled. I hope to see more functions that honor the uniqueness of our families. How awful it must be for a child to be excluded from one of these former events because of death, illness or neglect by a parent," said parent Mary Vince Cruz.

Other parents in the district were not as pleased, nor were their children, upon hearing the news.

"I am a mother of two daughters who attend Oak Lawn School and I'm very disappointed with the recent announcement that gender-specific events are no longer allowed in Cranston Public Schools. I am one of the mothers at Oak Lawn that got the ‘Lady's Choice’ dance started back in 2010 and have organized it each year since," said Tracy Shellard. "Over 75 percent of the girls at the school attended this past year and we have received lots of positive feedback from the fathers who have attended with their daughters.”

When she broke the news to her daughters, who are in grades two and four, she says they were brought to tears.

Despite the widespread opinions about the ruling, Superintendent Lundsten says she has no plans to revisit the decision.

"I will uphold the law. Am I happy about it? No,” she said. “I'd much rather be focusing on curriculum, teacher evaluation and student test scores, but I will not have us breaking the law."