The dress code at South High has been contested for a long time; The dress code has just been updated, what has changed, and what does it mean?

As new Principal Travis Rodgers enters his second year of being principal, he seeks to remedy some of the problems of South High. The dress code has been a large issue for students, teachers, and admin alike. There has been a total rewrite of the dress code. So, what has changed, and what does that mean for students?

Dress Code

We believe that students should dress for school in an appropriate manner. Think about employability skills. Clothing designed to attract undue attention is inappropriate. We also ask parents to support this code of dress so that students will recognize the importance of dressing properly for their education and future employment. Reasonable criteria for determining appearenance are based on health, safety, and public decency, and should be conducive to a positive learning enviroment. Though not all inclusive, the following are general criteria:

• Students must wear their student IDs in the building at all times.
• Hats, hoods, and scarves, are not allowed in the building (may not carry)
• Students must wear clothing including both a shirt with pants or skirt, or the equivalent (for example dresses, leggings, or shorts) and shoes.
• Clothing must be suitable for all scheduled classroom activities including physical education, science lab,s wood shop, and other activities where unique hazards exist.
• Clothing cannot contain anything depicting or advocating violence, criminal activity, use of alcohol or drugs, pornography, or hate speech.

If any adult in the building deems your attire to be inappropriate, you will be expected to correct what is unacceptable.

So what does it mean?

Or, what is the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the dress code? The dress code only applies to students, staff is expected to follow the dress code naturally. Each school in the district has its dress codes, but their dress codes aren’t relevant here. The dress code is to be followed whenever the student is engaging in any classes, clubs, sports, etc.

What and why are the big questions, first, the why. To take directly from the code, “students should dress in an appropriate manner,” but the usage of appropriate here is vague. However, it is clarified by “Clothing designed to attract undue attention is inappropriate.” Secondly, the code references “employability skills,” so we can assume that the dress code seeks to ready students for job dress codes. Skipping a few sentences, the reasoning for the general criteria of the dress code are given: health, safety, and public decency.

Now, the what. the general criteria can be boiled down to: Wear your ID, no hats/hoods/scarves, must have at least a shirt, pants, or equivalent, clothing must suit the class, and your clothing must not encourage violence, feature illegal substances, pornography, or hate speech.

The last sentence of the dress is the most important: “If any adult in the building deems your attire to be inappropriate, you will be expected to correct what is unacceptable.” Ok, if you get dress coded, you have to change your clothing, that’s reasonable. So as long as adults in the building don’t start adding unreasonable or discriminatory addendums to what is considered inappropriate, everything should work fine.

Conclusion

This story can not go on for very long, as the dress code itself is very short. However effective this dress code, how it is enforced, its pros and cons, and everything else is to be seen. As the school year goes on, admins, staff, and the principal will be investigating to see how the dress code works out.

For any comments, thoughts, or concerns on the dress code, please send them to [email protected], and I will note them for future articles, and/or report to the principal.