Boy's Kilt Stirs Dress Code Debate

Teen Told To Change Into Pants; Petitioners Seek School Apology

(AP) 
Warmack alleges McClard told him: "Well, this is my dance, and I'm not going to have students coming into it looking like clowns." McClard later said he had no recollection of saying that, Warmack's dad said. The principal did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The school district's superintendent, Ron Anderson, said McClard has the authority under the district's dress code policy to judge appropriate dress for extracurricular activities, including dances.

"It's mainly to protect from the possibility of a disruption or something that could be viewed as a disruption," Anderson said.

Several Scottish heritage organizations are angry, saying the kilt is a symbol of Scottish pride and considered formal dress.

"To say the traditional Scottish dress makes you look like a clown is a direct insult to people of Scottish heritage and those who live in Scotland," said Tom Wilson, a Texas commissioner for the Clan Gunn Society of North American, a Scottish heritage organization.

Another Clan Gunn member, Beth Gardner, started an online petition seeking an apology for Warmack. It questions in part the notion that the kilt was a distraction.

"From what? From the intense concentration it takes to dance?"

Scottish groups are hoping they can help him to establish a formal Scottish ensemble that more fully reflects his heritage, including pieces that are being handmade for Warmack in Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida.

Warmack said he's concerned that school officials are just waiting for the situation to blow over, and that the policy won't be changed.

"This has picked up a lot of steam," he said, "but it hasn't really gotten anywhere."