Braden River High School was originally scheduled to open for the 2004–2005 school year but was delayed until the next school year. [2] In February 2005, parents and future students voted to choose the mascot and school colors, and settled on a Pirate and maroon, black, and silver. [3] Braden River opened its doors in August 2005 and welcomed 9th and 10th graders. For each of the following two years, a class was added, and BRHS graduated its first class in June 2008. [4] 10 additional classrooms were added with an ability to accommodate 250 additional students. [5] In the summer of 2020, the previous running track was replaced with a rubber one and in March 2021 the school hosted its first-ever track and field meet. [6]
Dress code controversy
On April 5, 2018, The Bradenton Herald reported that a 17-year-old female student of the school, Lizzy Martinez, was forced to wear bandages over her nipples by the school dean and principal because she had not worn a bra to school because of a sunburn that she had acquired over spring break. [7]
Martinez alleged that a teacher had called the principal's office over concerns that she wasn't wearing a bra, and that upon meeting with the principal and dean who told her that without a bra she was distracting the male students in the classroom. The school dean, Violeta Velazquez, had Martinez wear another shirt under the one she had worn to school before eventually sending her to the clinic and making her put bandages over her nipples. [8]
In a statement after the incident, the school district’s general counsel, Mitchell Teitelbaum, released a statement in which the district acknowledged that the situation should've been handled more appropriately, but that Martinez had violated the dress code and that school officials were simply trying to help her fix the situation. However, the school district's dress code did not specifically address or require bras to be worn. [9]
After the incident, Martinez and her friends organized a "bracott" to protest the school district's dress code policy by wearing bandages, a message on their shirt, or by going bra-less to school on April 16. The school district warned students against participating in the protest, and it was described as a "subdued" affair. The American Civil Liberties Union also sent a letter to the school district and principal, alleging that the treatment of Martinez violated Title IX, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the freedom of speech guaranteed in the First Amendment, and Florida’s Educational Equity Act. [10] [11]
