Mom stands up for her daughter after school told her to 'cover up' while wearing her cheerleading outfit

A high school cheerleader at Pinconning High School was told to cover up when she wore her cheerleader outfit. Her mom wasn't having it and stood up for her daughter. The mom said that her daughter was told that she could not wear the cheering uniform because it broke the school dress code and would have to wear pants. They reasoned that it would be a distraction for the boys. The mom was disappointed and said that if the uniform was good enough for games, it should be good enough for school as well. Amanda Alburg's daughter is a varsity cheerleader at her high school and said that the school's coach had told them to wear their uniforms to school during a home game. “I don’t feel that should be a distraction to the boys. Girls have been wearing cheer uniforms issued by the school on game days to school since I was in high school. Never had to wear pants under it,” Alburg told WNEM 5.

The mom also shared that she had a conversation with a woman at the school's office after her daughter Mariannah was told to put pants on her cheerleading uniform. Superintendent Andy Kowalczyk told the outlet that the athletic uniforms may or may not meet the uniform dress code at the school. The same holds for cheerleading skirts as well and the high school won't allow students to wear uniforms that don't meet the dress code in the school. The superintendent also emailed the outlet that all the cheerleaders were brought into the conference room at the same time on the day in question and were wearing sweatpants. They weren't brought in to be disciplined as per the statement. He also mentioned that there was nothing said about the uniform being a distraction for the male students and the cheerleaders were brought in to discuss their uniform and warm-ups for the upcoming football season.  

The mom said she was the one who was told the distraction part and not her daughter, but her daughter was definitely told to put pants on. This was enough for the mom to ask to change the school's dress code in the meeting on Feb 12. Other parents attended the meeting as well. “My daughter can’t wear a sports bra to practice because it’s inappropriate, but the gentlemen…I can be out at that soccer field or on the basketball court and football field and they have their shirts off. And that is a double standard and it’s a violation of our girls’ civil rights,” one Pinconning mother said at the school board meeting as per the outlet. Parents were on the mom's side and called the rules double standards. “When I was in school, we all wore uniforms to school for cheerleading for game day. Now all the girls were called into the office, told they had to put pants or leggings on,” Alburg expressed at the meeting.

The superintendent still maintained his statement that what was being said was very different from what was discussed with the cheerleaders. Nonetheless, the parents want the dress code to be changed. “The dress code thing has been going for a long time. Do I think it needs to be changed? Absolutely,” school board president Brad Dubay told the outlet. “I wouldn’t mind trying to get those policies addressed and give them a test drive in May, and then we can maybe make some changes if necessary for next year,” school board trustee Mark Coutcher said in his statement. He also added that it was a whole process and would take some time to get implemented. Meanwhile, the cheerleading squad debuted with their new lady Spartans game on Feb 12.  

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 21, 2024. It has since been updated.