CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Albemarle County school officials yesterday denied an allegation that officials at Albemarle High School warned students not to wear T-shirts promoting abstinence.

The allegation was made by the Rutherford Institute, a national civil liberties group, in a letter sent yesterday to Superintendent Pam Moran. The Rutherford Institute is representing an Albemarle High student.

The T-shirts read "Virginity rocks" on the front and "I'm loving my husband and I haven't even met him! MyLifeMyCall.com" on the back. The shirts are part of a campaign by Worth Your Wait, a nonprofit abstinence education group based in Ruckersville.

In the letter to Moran, John Whitehead, the president and founder of the Rutherford Institute, threatened legal action if students are not allowed to wear the T-shirts.

But a statement released yesterday afternoon by the school division said that the T-shirts are acceptable and that no warnings or other administrative actions against students had taken place.

According to the school division's version of events, several AHS students wearing the T-shirts asked Principal Matt Haas in April if the shirts were acceptable. Haas said they were.

Whitehead agreed that Haas acknowledged the students' right to wear the T-shirts. But several lower-level school employees continued to tell students to cover up the T-shirts, he said.

Whitehead claimed victory last night and said that no legal action would be taken as long as students are allowed to wear the shirts.

-- Media General News Service