Excerpt:
Under a settlement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Philadelphia School District will have to revise its attire-and-appearance policy for school police officers and provide training in matters related to people who have religious concerns.
The settlement follows a lawsuit filed in March against the school district by the Justice Department on behalf of school cop Siddiq Abu-Bakr, who is Muslim and who has a long beard for religious reasons.
The school district in 2010, under a new police chief, had implemented a policy that prohibited officers from having a beard longer than a quarter-inch. Under the settlement, filed in federal court yesterday, "we don't have to change that" policy, said Talib Ellison, an assistant general counsel for the school district.