Dad told straight-A daughter to disobey school's 'menstrual info' demand. Her grade dropped to a C
'That is nobody's business but hers, her doctors, and whoever she feels like sharing that with,' Amsdill said.
There are plenty of reasons for a teenager's grade to slip in school. A forgotten homework assignment or a tough exam usually does the trick. But for Brian Shishakly's daughter, who is a sophomore at Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, her streak of straight A's was ruined by something far more absurd and concerning. Her father says the policy affected her gym grade, which ultimately fell to a C after he told her she had no obligation to disclose the information. Now the matter has escalated much further, as reported by CBS News on September 17, 2026.
The invasive class rule
The controversy began when physical education instructors at Lakeview High School laid down explicit ground rules for their required swimming unit. To make up swim days missed because of a period, the syllabus required a written note or email from a parent stating the length of the student's menstrual cycle. The syllabus also said days that were not made up would count as non-participation and "place the student on the grade reduction scale."
Standing ground against intrusion
Shishakly refused to let his tenth grader comply when he read the syllabus terms last year. Believing the classroom rule overstepped personal boundaries, he advised his child to protect her medical privacy. "My response was like, 'If they ask, you have no obligation to tell them,' and it did affect her grade," he said. That defiance, however, came with an academic cost. The honor student saw her top marks plummet to an unexpected C, prompting her father to call out the unfair penalty. "I don't know how fair that is since it's only going to apply to the girls at the school," he noted.
Furious parents demand answers
Unfortunately, Shishakly's daughter wasn't the only one affected by this policy. Word of this weird rule spread rapidly through the St. Clair Shores community, leaving other guardians just as bewildered. And Amsdill was one of them, who found the policy downright offensive. "That is nobody's business but hers, her doctors, and whoever she feels like sharing that with," he suggested. As more families compared notes, questions quickly shifted from general frustration to whether school administrators were trampling on federal nondiscrimination statutes.
Could the policy cross a legal line?
A civil rights attorney said the policy could raise concerns under federal and state anti-discrimination law because it applies specifically to female students. Detroit legal counsel John Marko pointed out that conditioning academic standing on feminine biology borders on unlawful conduct. "It could be violative of both federal and our state anti-discrimination laws, which are called the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex," he pointed out. Marko also emphasized the parents' concern that the guidelines violate Title IX.
Administration's quiet defense
Under mounting public pressure, the school's superintendent Karl D. Paulson issued a measured public reply to calm the uproar. Rather than scrapping the mandate outright, Paulson downplayed the disruption as a mere pushback over routine expectations. "We recently became aware of a parent’s concern relative to certain class expectations," he wrote in an official release. He added that the school will soon be organizing a meeting with the parents to engage in conversation about the concern. That meeting later took place, but CBS Detroit reported on September 19, 2026, that Amsdill left more frustrated, saying the requirement had been in place for years and still had not been resolved to his satisfaction.
Magnifying on discomfort
This policy not only might be violating legal rules but also makes teenagers uncomfortable. A 2025 survey by PERIOD and Thinx found that nearly a third of U.S. teens who menstruate felt uncomfortable asking for period-related accommodations at school. The discomfort was even higher during fitness activities, where 37% said they struggled to ask for adjustments. The same study found that only 30% of teens felt their school actively supported students during their periods, while more than half said schools could be doing more.
Leave it to the children
The people felt like this choice should've been left to the children themselves rather than punishing them for not participating. @DevilishSeraphim commented, "If children do not want to participate in swimming for WHATEVER reason, then offer them the dry exercise program. There’s a program in place to allow this if they give up this information, why not just make it an option with no explanation needed. I did not ‘participate’ on days we did activities that made me uncomfortable. I was given the option to walk/run the track for the length of time the activity took place."
Meanwhile, @Izzyventi noted, "I graduated from Lakeview three years ago. I remember having to deal with this. Had to do the dry exercises because I couldn't swim. Ruptured a cyst on my ovaries and passed out in math class. You'd have to make up swim days after school; very uncomfortable. Never did because I didn't want to be alone with our male teacher after school."
More on Scoop Upworthy
Man tries period pain simulator against woman with endometriosis — and learns an important lesson
Menstruating woman seeks advice after boyfriend gives her a hard time for bleeding on the couch
Share on Facebook
