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ST. LOUIS (AP) - A southern Missouri school district is ending a policy prohibiting same-sex couples from attending prom, a day after a national anti-discrimination group threatened to sue.

Scott County Central School District superintendent Alvin McFerren told The Associated Press Friday that the school board has agreed to revise a handbook policy that prohibits same-sex dates at school dances. McFerren says the policy was adopted 10-15 years ago because students were attending prom as couples simply to save money - the couples price was cheaper than the individual cost.

The Southern Poverty Law Center on Thursday threatened legal action on behalf of Stacy Dawson, a male student who wanted to attend prom with his boyfriend. McFerren says Dawson can attend the dance on April 20 with whomever he chooses.

ST. LOUIS - AP - A small southeast Missouri school district is facing a threat of legal action over a policy barring same-sex couples from attending prom together.

The Southern Poverty Law Center on Thursday accused the Scott County Central School District in Sikeston of discrimination. Messages left with the district’s superintendent, Alvin McFerren, were not returned.

The district has just an elementary and a high school, serving a combined 330 students. The SPLC says a male student sought permission to bring his boyfriend to the prom on April 20, but was told district policy prohibits same-sex couples from attending school dances.

An SPLC attorney says the policy denies Dawson’s constitutional rights.