A Rhode Island school district banned traditional "father-daughter" and "mother-son" activities as discriminatory, the Providence Journal reports.

School Superintendent Judith Lundsten tells the Journal that the decision in Cranston, R.I., came in response to a complaint from a single mother, who brought her case to the American Civil Liberties Union after her daughter wasn't allowed to attend a father-daughter dance.

Lundsten says school attorneys found that although federal legislation banning gender discrimination gives an exemption for "father-son" and "mother-daughter" events, Rhode Island law does not, the newspaper says.