UNION CITY, Mich. (June 10, 2014) — Is it simple arithmetic, a potential sexual innuendo, or both?
You be the judge.
Mickaylah Brigg’s class t-shirt reads, “The girls are hot. The boys are fine. We’re the class of 6 + 9.”
That’s the exact wording for the Union City High School class of 2015 shirt.
“Our class is like the joking class, so we wanted it to be funny and represent us,” Mickaylah explained.
However, Union’s school administrators didn’t see the humor.
“Administration did accept them for us to buy them, like say, they’re appropriate for school and stuff,” Mickaylah said. “Then that Friday, we all turned our money in. We found out they were not school appropriate, but it was too late.”
Administrators informed students that the shirts had a “potential sexual innuendo.” A classmate wore the shirt anyway on Friday and was suspended, Mickaylah said.
“Then we all decided that we were going to wear our shirts that Monday.”
Mickaylah was then suspended. “They waited for everybody to walk into school, and everybody that had a shirt got kicked out.”
They were suspended for June 10, which is the last day of school.
“I don’t see the sexual innuendo,” Bobbiejoe Briggs, Michaylah’ mom, said. She complained to the superintendent and questioned the school’s position well before any of the suspensions. Without the ‘plus sign’ between the numbers, Mrs. Briggs said, she could understand. However, with it, Mrs. Briggs sees it as a simple math problem. “I can see where 6 + 9 equals the year students are graduating,” Briggs noted that the ‘9’ rhymes with ‘fine.’
“And I feel suspension is probably a little too far,” Briggs said. “Why couldn’t they have them take their shirts off? Especially if it was the first offense instead of the second offense.”
FOX 17 spoke with superintendent Peter Kreger over the phone. Kreger said students were warned and they were being insubordinate by wearing the shirt anyway.
