The administration accused a student of violating school rules by a wearing a hat with the message “Jesus is my homeboy” silk-screened on it, and had the student remove the cap.

Assistant Middle School Director Debbie Heller told sophomore Simon Mont that his hat “was very disrespectful.”

Mont was confused about how his hat violated the dress code. “I didn’t understand why I couldn’t wear [the hat],” Mont said.

According to Interim Principal Roslyn Landy, the student handbook states that “students must maintain an appearance that is appropriate for a Jewish school and that reflects a positive attitude toward learning and the study of the sacred texts.”

Jewish Texts teacher Rabbi Reuvane Slater felt that the hat demonstrated a lack of respect for other religions

“Wearing a hat that says ‘Jesus is my homeboy’ goes far beyond putting on any piece of clothing,” Slater said. “It shows that maybe there isn’t a clear understanding of exactly who Jesus was in relationship to the Jewish People.”

Slater added, “to wear something and just assume that it’s cute is missing fundamental religious sensitivity.”

Landy agreed with Slater about the offensive nature of the hat.

“I do not believe that a student who wears a cross or an ‘I love Jesus t-shirt’ is dressing in an appropriate manner and would find it disrespectful to our non-Jewish faculty and staff,” said Landy.

Students questioned the administration’s presumption that the hat is offensive to Christians.

“All the hat was saying is Jesus is my friend, or you are personally close with Jesus,” said freshman Ellie Dugan.

Senior Ilana Glasberg felt that the hat could be interpreted as disrespectful but that a student still has the right to wear what they want.

“In the school environment that is supposed to foster love and tolerance, maybe it wouldn’t be so good to wear a hat that says those kinds of things,” Glasberg said. “But, as long as what you are expressing doesn’t have a direct innuendo, you should be allowed to wear it because we are in America and have such rights.”

According to the handbook, if a student breaks dress code, they “will be sent to the office and then you will be required to put on a school shirt/pants and return it/them cleaned to the school the next day.”

Landy said even if students do not agree with how the dress code is being interpreted, they still have a responsibility to listen to the faculty.

“We expect students to follow the rules of the school and to respect any adult who asks him/her to do something. If there is a question, the student is free to speak to me as a follow-up,” Landy said.