End of the gender-specific school event?

There is the spirit of the law, and there is the letter of the law.

Today’s news prompting a review of the difference between the two comes from Cranston, Rhode Island, where — the Providence Journal reports — the school district has banned father-daughter and mother-son activities as a violation of state law.

Supt. Judith Lundsten said the move was triggered by a letter ifrom the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a single mom who had complained that her daughter had not been able to attend her father-daughter dance.

Lundsten said school attorneys found while federal Title IX legislation banning gender discrimination gives an exemption for “father-son” and “mother-daughter” events, Rhode Island law doesn’t.

(h/t: Ted Canova)