A high school student in Louisville, Kentucky was expelled from her private Christian school, which she claims was due to a photo posted from her birthday of her posing in a rainbow shirt next to a rainbow colored cake.
The school, Whitefield Academy, denies the allegations. They claim that there is more to the story than she is letting on.
Kayla Kenney was celebrating her 15th birthday with family when her mom, Kimberly Alford, snapped a photo of Kenney smiling with her cake, and posted the picture on Facebook.
“She was happy, she looked beautiful,” Alford told WAVE.
Alford said that shortly after she posted the photo, she was contacted by the head of Whitefield Academy, Dr. Bruce Jacobson, who informed her that Kenney, who had been attending the private school for four years, was expelled because of the social media post.
Alford claims the school notified her that the colors of her daughter’s cake and shirt were inappropriate because they were“demonstrat[ing] a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy’s beliefs.”
That alluded to the fact that the LGBTQ has adopted the rainbow as their pride colors. However, the rainbow is originally a message from God, as a promise that he will never flood the earth again like he did in the days of Noah.
Alford defended her daughter, adding that neither the cake nor shirt were being used to make any kind of statement about sexual orientation, and that her daughter is straight.
“There was nothing intended by [the rainbow color], and even when I went back and got the receipt from the bakery, it didn’t say anything about representation, it just said assorted colors,” Alford said.
In a statement to Fox News, the school, however, maintains that the decision was not “solely for a social media post,” but because of violations of the student code of conduct “numerous times over the past two years.”
“In the fall, we met with the student to give her a final chance to begin to adhere to our code of conduct. Unfortunately, she did not live up to the agreement, and therefore, has been expelled,” the school’s statement read.
“Whitefield Academy is a Christian-based school with a 43-year history of educating students in a learning environment informed by our shared Christian values. All parents who enroll their children in our private school know up front that we ask the students to adhere to a lifestyle informed by our Christian beliefs,” it continued.
The academy did not point out any of the “numerous” violations that they claim was the reason that Kenney was expelled.
According to Whitefield Academy’s Code of Conduct, students can be punished for “lifestyle violations” that happen off-campus.
Alford claims the school would not meet with her, but changed the expulsion to a voluntary withdrawal. The mom has since enrolled Kenney in public school, but is appealing the expulsion at Whitefield.
“You know we teach our kids ‘what would Jesus do?’" Alford asked, "What would he do here?”