Dad Hires Lawyer Over High School Gym Rule Asking Parents How Long Their Daughters’ Periods Last

A Michigan dad has hired a lawyer in an ongoing dispute over a high school gym rule requiring parents to disclose how long their daughters’ periods last.

Andy Amsdill first raised concerns after his freshman daughter brought home a physical education syllabus from Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores, about 15 miles northeast of Detroit.

Under a section titled “Non-Swim Days for Pool Only,” the syllabus says girls can make up swimming days missed because of their periods, but “a written/email note from a parent stating the length of the menstrual duration is required.” Students complete dry-land workouts to make up the missed days, while any day that isn’t made up counts as non-participation and can put them on the school’s “grade reduction scale.”

“The teacher wants us to either send a note or an email with the suspected length of the cycle, which by itself is ridiculous,” Amsdill told WXYZ. He said school officials offered to waive the requirement for his daughter after he complained, but he wanted it addressed for everyone.

Superintendent Karl Paulson acknowledged the concern earlier in the week, saying the district wanted to meet with Amsdill and remained committed to “educational excellence and best practices.” That meeting happened Friday morning.

Amsdill has since retained attorney Jamie White, who told CBS News Detroit that neither Paulson nor the teacher attended. According to White, the administrators who did show up defended the staff’s handling of the situation, and Amsdill left more frustrated than before.

“I've been doing this now for 25 years, and this is one of the most boneheaded policies that I've ever encompassed,” White said. Lakeview did not respond to CBS’s request for comment following the meeting.

Another parent says his daughter ran into the same requirement during freshman gym last year — and that it affected her grade. “She's a straight-A student, and she ended up with a C in gym,” Bryan Shishakly told CBS.

White argues that can turn an uncomfortable policy into something with actual consequences. “For a young woman trying to get college scholarships, could've potentially been the valedictorian, you know,” he explained. “These are damages, real, calculable damages.”

The requirement is raising legal questions, too. Civil-rights attorney Jon Marko, who reviewed the syllabus, told CBS he was troubled by it both as a lawyer and a parent. “It’s creepy, I’d be creeped out,” Marko said. “I’m not going to tell the Phys Ed teacher my daughter's menstrual cycle.” He added that the rule could potentially violate Title IX.

Marko separately told WXYZ that the requirement could also run afoul of Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Whether Lakeview's requirement actually violates either law hasn't been decided.

This also isn’t the first fight over schools getting access to students’ menstrual information.

In 2023, Florida's high school athletics association faced backlash over a proposal to make menstrual-history questions mandatory on student-athlete medical forms and provide the information to schools. The questions themselves had previously been optional.

After complaints from parents, students and medical professionals, the association called an emergency meeting and voted 14-2 to remove the menstrual questions entirely. Under the revised system, students' detailed medical histories stay with their health care provider or parent, while schools receive the page determining whether they're medically cleared to play. The Florida High School Athletic Association said at the time that student-athletes “deserve privacy.”