ACLU Lawsuit Forces CCSD to Change Graduation Regalia Policy

The CCSD graduation regalia policy, set out in Regulation R-5129 as revised by the Board of Trustees on May 7, 2026, lets a Clark County School District graduate wear up to five stoles from any source, flat decorations on the cap, and gown adornments covering no more than 25 percent of the gown, with only narrow content-based restrictions left to the school.¹²

What You Can Wear

The current rule sets the same baseline across every CCSD high school. A graduate may wear:

Up to five stoles, regardless of whether they come from a school-sponsored organization. Cultural stoles, outside-group stoles, and school-issued stoles all count toward the five.
Decorations on the mortarboard, as long as they lay flat and do not extend past the cap’s dimensions.
Flags, cords, medals, pins, charms, and similar items on the gown, provided they cover no more than 25 percent of the gown’s surface area.

The 2023 state law behind the policy, NRS 388.915, independently protects “traditional tribal regalia or recognized objects of religious or cultural significance” at any public school graduation in Nevada.³ A CCSD school cannot shrink that right by local rule.

What a School Can Still Turn Down

Regulation R-5129 lets a principal prohibit an item only if it falls into a defined category. The item must be lewd, obscene, vulgar, profane, promote violence or illicit drug use, constitute harassment, bullying, or discrimination, or create a substantial disruption of the ceremony.¹

The “proselytizing speech” ban that appeared in CCSD’s earlier March 2025 version of the regulation is gone.² Any prohibition the school does impose has to be consistent with the First Amendment and Nevada law.⁴

Enforcement on ceremony day stays with the principal. If an item was not submitted for pre-approval, the principal can require it to be removed before the student walks, and a student who refuses can be barred from participating.¹

Pre-Approval Is Optional, Not Required

The mandatory pre-approval process in the original regulation was replaced with a voluntary one. Students are “strongly recommended” to submit their regalia to the principal at least 20 school days before graduation. The principal then has 10 school days to approve or deny the request. A denial must be in writing, must state a reason, and must be made in consultation with the Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning.¹

Submitting ahead of time is the safer path. It locks in a yes before graduation day and avoids a last-minute order to remove the item at the door.

If a School Tells You No

A denial is not the final word. Under the 2023 state law, a student may appeal to the Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction. Regulation R-5129 requires that appeal to be filed no later than five school days before the ceremony.¹

The state Superintendent must consult the Nevada Indian Commission and the Nevada Commission on Minority Affairs when reviewing an appeal. If no decision is issued within five business days, the appeal is automatically decided in the student’s favor.³ The written denial from the principal is the document the appeal is built on, so keep it.

How the Current Policy Came About

CCSD had no district-wide regalia rule for years, leaving each school to set its own. That changed in March 2025 with the first version of Regulation R-5129, which capped gown adornments at 25 percent, limited cap decorations to flat items, banned “proselytizing speech,” and required principal pre-approval with no defined standards or deadlines.⁵

On May 15, 2025, the ACLU of Nevada sued CCSD in state court on behalf of Corie Humphrey, a senior at East Career and Technical Academy who had been told she could not wear a kente cloth stole reading “Black Girl Magic,” along with eleven students in the ACLU’s Emerging Leaders program.⁶ The case moved to federal court as ACLU of Nevada v. Clark County School District, Case No. 2:25-cv-00892.⁷ U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware held an emergency hearing on May 25, 2025, and ruled that the “Black Girl Magic” stole and the ACLU Emerging Leaders stole were “lawfully protected forms of expression.”⁸

Interim guidance went out to every CCSD high school the next day: five stoles allowed, flat cap decorations allowed, pre-approval dropped, and only narrowly defined content restrictions kept.⁴⁷²

The ACLU of Nevada has said it will litigate again if the rules are not followed. “It would be prudent for administrators to understand that violations of the First Amendment will not be treated with understanding moving forward and will result in new legal actions,” Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said after the settlement.⁹ For a graduating student, that history is the backdrop; the operative document is R-5129, and the operative deadlines are the 20-school-day submission window, the 10-school-day decision window, and the five-school-day appeal cutoff.

1
Clark County School District. Regulation R-5129 (Revised May 7, 2026)
2
Las Vegas Review-Journal. CCSD Updates Graduation Regalia Policy One Year After ACLU Suit
3
Nevada Legislature. Assembly Bill No. 73
4
FOX5 Las Vegas. CCSD Revise Graduation Regalia Policy After ACLU Lawsuit
5
ACLU of Nevada. ACLU of Nevada Motion for Temporary Restraining Order or Preliminary Injunction
6
8 News Now. ACLU Files Lawsuit Against CCSD Over Its Graduation Regalia Policy
7
ACLU of Nevada. CCSD Ends Legal Battle With ACLU of Nevada With New Graduation Policy
8
ACLU of Nevada. ACLU Nevada Prevails in Emergency Court Hearing on Graduation Regalia Policy
9
News 3 Las Vegas. CCSD Changes Graduation Regalia Policy