God Says Untuck Your Shirts

Texas mom uses Bible verse to justify her kids' sloppy attire

Let your shirttails hang out -- it's God's way.

A Bible-thumping Irving mom won her daughter the right to untuck her shirt at school, persuading education officials that she's got the Holy Book on her side.

Dyker Neyland told the school board that Bible verse 1 Timothy 2:9, which says that "women should adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing," justified her 7-year-old daughter Jave's right to go against school code and leave her shirt untucked.

"I don't want her behind showing," Neyland told the Dallas Morning News. "I don't want her body being exposed."

All of the Irving city elementary and middle schools require their students to wear uniforms, which include a dress shirt that can be tucked into khaki or navy pants.

Neyland told the school board before they voted that she felt "persecuted" for being a Christian and that her daughter was unfairly expected to dress in what she deemed an immodest fashion.

"There will be a day of reckoning, and you will have to answer to God," Neyland said before the vote.

The school board approved Neyland's case 6-1. When Neyland won, she thanked her biggest supporter -- the man upstairs.

"Thank you, Jesus. God is good!" Neyland cried out.

School board president Jerry Christian said Neyland's case was passed because there isn't any stipulation in the handbook about tucking in shirts -- it's merely part of a larger clause in the dress code that encourages students to avoid sloppy attire.

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