WICHITA, Kansas, May 19, 2008  -- A controversial English-only policy has led to a lawsuit against a Wichita Catholic school.

One of the families involved claims their son was kicked out of school for failing to agree with the policy.

The attorney's who filed the suit say they couldn't find a policy like this at any school in the nation.

The policy bans anyone from speaking Spanish at any time during school.

Adam Silva was a 6th grader at St. Anne Catholic school in south Wichita until he refused to sign a pledge that he would not speak Spanish at school.

"He believes in who he is so he really thought it was wrong what they were doing," said Clara Silva, Adam’s mother.

The English only policy is now the center of a lawsuit filed by the Silvas and three other families, who allege the policy encouraged harrassment and is discriminatory.

"Why would you ban Spanish during lunch and recess, there's no reason for it except you don't like it, you don't want it spoken," said Christopher McHugh the attorney representing the families.

"It's unfortunate, it's sad, it's very hurtful for all the parties including the community itself," countered Fred Solis a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

Solis says the policy became necessary to maintain order within the school.  "The issue was a behavioral issue, where this young man who's first language was English who was born in the US.  But was using Spanish with a small crowd of friends to speak ill of others, make derogatory comments about others in Spanish so they wouldn't know what they were saying."

"There was no bullying, this is just the end of a long line of excuses for this policy," argued McHugh who says this began as an oral policy in the lunchroom before the bishop signed off on a school wide ban a couple weeks later.  "The reason given at that point by lunchroom staff was this is America; this is what we speak in America. There was an additional reason given of we don't understand what you're saying and we're uncomfortable with that."

But Solis says the idea that the Wichita diocese would discriminate against Hispanics is absurd, especially given their long history of supporting minorities.  "I just hope we can get past this and it doesn't become a divisive issue," he said.

But the Silvas say it already has.  "Parents and children feel unwanted, they feel discriminated, they feel it's not the same like it used to be," said Clara Silva.