FOX23 News (Albany, NY) - Seventh Grader Suspended Again for Rosary Beads

Reported by: Cait McVey

Its a story thats been gaining national attention.

A seventh grader at Oneida Middle School in Schenectady is suspended yet again, for wearing rosary beads to class Monday morning.

Raymond Hosiers mother dropped him off outside of school, but didn't leave right away. Instead, she waited out front in her car, anticipating a problem.

With rosary beads around his neck, Hosier walked into school -- minutes later he was back outside - suspended again.

They told me to tuck them in, said Raymond Hosier. And I told them I wasn't.

Mother, Chantell Hosier says she wasnt surprised. They told us Wednesday they were going to do this.

Raymond was first suspended for wearing the rosary last Wednesday. The school deems beads a gang symbol, and according to policy, a safety issue. 

It was beyond belief that anyone would think a light purple plastic rosary with a crucifix at the end of it is somehow a gang symbol, said attorney Ed White.

Flying in from Michigan Monday White, a lawyer with the American Center for Law and Justice, a firm that focuses on freedom of religion and speech in Constitutional law, says by law, a student can express himself in school as long as it doesn't disrupt class. 

He points out Raymond has been wearing the rosary since September without a problem.

This is a matter of common sense, said White. 

The same rosary Raymond wears everyday was held by his brother as he laid dying in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

White says if the school doesn't allow Raymond back to class with the rosary beads on, the family will be filing a lawsuit in federal court, and his firm is prepared to take it all the way to the Supreme Court. 

He belongs here in class learning this stuff, said Chantell Hosier. Raymond's not getting an education at this point.  And this is what everybody was worried about.

Raymond's mother says she plans to bring him back to school Tuesday.

The district told FOX23 News its still standing by its policy.  The district did not return calls by FOX23 about a possible lawsuit.