The superintendent of a Michigan school district has apologized to U.S. Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Sherwood Baker after he was denied access into his daughter’s high school because he was wearing his uniform. According to Fox News , the Army officer has served 24 years in the U.S. military and was at Rochester Adams High School to speak with the school counselor about her schedule. The Army officer says that upon trying to enter the high school, a security guard informed him that if he wanted to enter the school, he would have to go home and change out of his uniform.
The officer’s wife Rachel Ferhadson told Fox News, “Before he was allowed in, the security guard stopped him and said sorry you’re not allowed in the school. Security told him men and women in uniform weren’t allowed because it may offend another student.”
His wife says that her husband has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. She was shocked that the security guard denied her veteran husband’s entrance into Rochester Adams High School. The superintendent of the Michigan school district was equally as shocked.
Rochester Schools superintendent Robert Shaner is also a veteran. He promptly apologized and rectified the situation. The superintendent sent Fox News a letter stating, “The district has apologized for any perception that individuals in uniform are not welcome in the school. The district does not have a policy excluding individuals in uniform and will be working with administration and the firm that handles our security to make sure district policies are understood and communicated accurately.”
The Detroit Free Press reported this month that Rochester Adams High School made the list of Newsweek’s top high schools in the nation that overcame the odds and performed well despite high levels of poverty in their districts. U.S. News and World Report ranked Rochester Adams High School 8th within Michigan . The school has a minority enrollment of 19 percent and an economically disadvantaged enrollment of six percent.
In a similarly themed story, a wife of a reservist accused a Holly, Michigan gas station manager of denying service to her husband, because he was in uniform . That situation, which appeared baseless, resulted in a boycott and protest outside the business and on social media.
The Baker family, according to Fox News , will be discussing the details of how Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Sherwood Baker was denied entrance into Rochester Adams High School with the school’s principal.
