A second-grade student in Oklahoma was expelled from her Christian elementary school after telling another girl she had a crush on her. Chloe Shelton, 8, was removed from Rejoice Christian School in Owasso, Oklahoma last week after making the comment to her classmate, her mother, Delanie Shelton, told CNN, also revealing that her 5-year-old son was also expelled.
According to Shelton, her daughter was immediately removed from the playground after making the remark and was held in the principal’s office for several hours. During that time, Shelton said the vice principal told Chloe, “the Bible says that women can only have children with a man.” When the vice principal asked Shelton how she feels “about girls liking girls and I told her that I see no issue with it.” Upon picking up her daughter, Shelton was told not to bring her daughter to school the following day, and the school’s superintendent later notified her that both Chloe and her 5-year-old son were no longer welcome as students at the school due to their beliefs not aligning with that of the school’s.
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“I was so blindsided. I was angry, hurt, betrayed, sad… so many different emotions. I just couldn’t believe it. I asked him to have a sit down meeting to discuss it and process it better and he refused, saying that ‘nothing more needed to be discussed,’” Shelton said. “They ripped my kids out of the only school they’ve ever really known away from their teachers and friends they’ve had over the past four years over something my daughter probably doesn’t know or fully understand.”
The school initially cited the school’s student handbook and policy when addressing Chloe’s expulsion. The handbook states that “any form of sexual immorality” goes against its beliefs, including “professing to be homosexual/bisexual.” Students who do not “conform to the standards and ideals of work and life” at the school forfeit the “privilege” of attendance. In a statement addressing the matter, Superintendent Joel Pepin has since released a statement reading, “due to privacy and other factors, it is the school’s policy to refrain from public comments regarding any particular student or family.”
Shelton told local outlet Fox23 News that Chloe was upset over the expulsion and was “crying saying ‘Does God still love me?’” Since the expulsion, however, Chloe has been showered with support from her community. Over the weekend, the neighborhood across from the school planned to show their support by posting signs in their lawns for Chloe and her family to drive by and see. Chloe, who told the outlet she was sad, angry, and disappointed over her school’s decision, said she feels “so loved and supported, thank you so much to everyone who helped me feel better for being who I am.”
