Authorities in a Northern Ireland school who suspended a teenager for refusing to cut his hair yesterday sought to obtain High Court approval of their disciplinary procedures.
Ballyclare High School, Co Antrim, received permission to apply for a judicial review of its policies amid the deepening row over GCSE student Grant Stranaghan. Principal David Knox was in court as lawyers urged a judge to back their call for a formal declaration that its code of conduct for uniforms and pupils' appearance was lawful.
The application, lodged by the chairman of the board of governors, also sought confirmation that non-compliance was a disciplinary offence.
Frank O'Donoghue QC, for the school, told Mr Justice Weatherup that the case involved four boys allegedly refusing to abide by the rules.
No names were mentioned, but one of the pupils referred to was 15-year-old Grant, from Rathcoole, Newtownabbey, who has been at the centre of a public debate since being kept out of school for three days last month.
Mr O'Donoghue said: "It seems that for whatever reason the boy has the support of his parents on this issue and there has been a decision to confront the school. The current position is that the school is trying to avoid any suspensions but is educating one of the boys separate from his own class."
Although the barrister said this was a temporary measure, he claimed it had the potential to increase budgetary demands. "Girls are allowed to have long hair, boys are not," he added. "It's our view that the policy taken as a whole cannot be discriminatory."
Granting leave for a full judicial review, Mr Justice Weatherup said school policies on hair length may seem trivial and insignificant to those opposing enforcement. He described it as unusual for a decision-maker to seek a declaration that its policies are lawful.
Outside the court, Grant's father, George Stranaghan, vowed to press on with his own legal case against the school.