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GoogleStarting this fall, any solid-color shirt will be acceptable; in the school year just completed, each school had a specific list of acceptable colors.
Also tweaked was a rule about pant length. The old rule prohibited pant hems below the top of the heel; the new rule simply says they can't fall underneath the shoes.
The old policy listed a specific schedule of punishments for first, second, third and subsequent offenses, including in-school suspensions for second and third offenses. School board members said at last month's meeting that they did not want the dress code to be a cause for keeping students out of class.
The new policy simply states that school principals will develop enforcement procedures to be approved by the board.
The school board approved the new version of the policy by voice vote; it will take effect during the upcoming school year.
Still to be settled is the issue of hooded sweatshirts, or "hoodies."
"The principals, as a group, do not like hoodies," said school board Chairman Barry Cooper. Zip-up hoodies can be used to hide non-compliant clothing when an authority figure is present, said board members. But sometimes, light outerwear is necessary in the classroom for comfort during cold weather.
The board instructed School Superintendent Ed Gray to discuss the issue further with principals and come back with a recommendation.
Meanwhile, the school system has negotiated a provision with Bedford County Education Association requiring that the union develop and enforce guidelines for professional attire among teachers. Board members said the vast majority of teachers already dress professionally, but the new provision will give principals a way to address the few cases where there is a problem.
In return for the professional dress provision, the county agreed to allow BCEA teachers to enroll their children at any school in the system except the magnet school. Previously, teachers had the right to enroll their children at the school nearest their employment.
Teachers can only enroll their children at the magnet elementary school if they meet the normal criteria for admission to that school.
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I think that is a good decision. It is not exactly what I would have hoped for, but much better than before. I think most principles will be more accurate in their assessment of their own students needs. I hope the board actually allows them to have some freedom in the enforcement though.
Progress is progress. Instead of regressive tactics aimed at eliminating time spent administering, of all things, education, teachers can now steadily begin to teach again rather than spending hours a day being fashion police. Just glad to see the School Board admit that there were obvious flaws and unneeded restrictions, such as the color of a shirt. I didn't see the mention in this article about forcing students to tuck their shirts in. I certainly hope they understand that trying to learn while being completely uncomfortable in your "uniform" is not learning at all. The children will spend more time worried about their appearances than learning the scientific method.
Slowly, they are realizing, this has accomplished zilch. If it has actually accomplished anything, feel free to enlighten us on hard facts, because I believe the numbers indicate our county falling behind on State Tests, and the SSA policy did nothing to stop it.
I would like to see the statistics addressing how much gang violence and other violation of other school rules was reduced secondary to the passage of the dress code in the first place.
They just ran out of space in the dentention office. I don't know why you think it has anything to do about the dress code. Some kids spent more time there than in class. I am surprised the tax payers didn't wind up footing the bill for the "new clothing" for some students.
The teacher's dress code required a second vote by the teacher association because the school board made it a yes to all/no to all.
In other words, the teachers could only have the option to send their kids to whatever school they wanted if they also agreed to having a dress code statement put in the contract.
The results of the first vote where the teachers voted no to all should have stood. I am disappointed with those teachers who were coerced into changing their initial vote.
It will be enforced as inconsistently by school principals the same as the student dress code was enforced.
To those who say then get another job, I will if it comes down to me being told I have to wear specific items of clothing. How is occasionally wearing dress jeans less professional than wearing sweat suits or skin tight pants/shirts and showing cleavage? Will those issues be addressed? I doubt it.
The school board has become a dictatorship and I consider their requirement for a dress code statement to be treating us disrespectfully and unprofessionally.
teacherbctn,
Why are whining about the dress code then? You should have said something about this a couple years ago. OH I see, now this is going to affect you then it is an issue?:)
Evil Monkey --not sure what you mean by a couple of years ago,and, like I said, I will seek a different position if I am told that I have to wear specific items of clothing when others are getting away with wearing clothing that I consider to be much more unprofessional.
The majority of teachers I have talked to were against the dress code for students and voted against the dress code being in our contract but were coerced into changing their vote when we were asked to vote again because the school board and the teachers with kids in elementary school wanted us to do so.
Also, I have said plenty about it before now.
Actually,
The Board of Education, Principals and administrators actually stated MANY teachers were for the student dress code. But your story seems a little different then what they stated. Oh I agree with you that the dress code was being used as a tool to oppress the students. I said that WAY before it was instituted so I am not surprised.
There were plenty of teachers against the dress code. Why would any teacher want a dress code because they know they are the ones who will have to enforce it..wouldn't that be like wanting more work put on you without any extra pay?
As far as the dress code for teachers goes, I think that is a little ridiculous these are adults we are talking about here..adults with a college degree. They do not work for McDonald's, they are professionals. This dress code got passed using the same tactics that Congress uses... they add their pork spending to bills that people want passed. Kinda a twoFor Bill, I will give you this BUT I get this in exchange. I do believe though if the Board thinks this is such a great idea they need to be in on this deal also... Central Office and the Board should dress within the same dress code they give teachers.
Dianatn,
Most of the teachers didn't speak up when they didn't agree with the student dress code though. This is what happens. When the shoe is on the other foot, now there is a problem? When you don't speak up and wait to see what happens, this is the outcome. When you protest it, when you become the "monkey" on their backs, then you get results. Hence my name.
Evil Monkey
Weren't most of the Parents against the dress code? Didn't parents speak out against the dress code? Explain what difference that made?
Teachers are not the cure all, see all to your child's needs..they are educators, professionals who teach to the best of your child's ability to learn.
Please tell me why the teachers do not have to follow the same dress code?
From what I have been able to understand, there were some teachers who were against the dress code. There were also some very good teachers (mostly from Central) supporting it. Those who were against it had at least some pressure directed at them to discourage interference (at least the few that I know of directly).
Teachers may not be the cure all, but those who did not approve of the dress code for students could have been an effective organizing force to oppose it. It is one thing to have a lot of individual parents upset, it is another thing entirely to have a group of parents working together to change what they do not like.
As far as the teachers code, what did you expect? "When they came for the children, I did not speak out. I was not a child" I know that sounds harsh, but I do honestly believe this board has some ideological issues that need to be addressed, either internally or externally.
Dianatn,
None of them voiced this? Parents are just mere casualties because they have to pay for this. Students, teachers and the years of wasteful time spent on a dress code is the travesty in this entire mess. Fear is the motivator here.. as a wise man of the 80s said Many times...
"And do you feel scared - I do
But I wont stop and falter
And if we threw it all away
Things can only get better
Wow wow wow oh, wow wow wow oh oh oh oh"
hehe, I heard that song on the radio on the way home and I thought How appropriate in these days of Fear and Oppressive manipulation techniques.
memyselfi,
Exactly my point. Well said.
Sounds to me like you are only wanting revenge for the student dress code to me...problem is you are taking your revenge out on the wrong people.
Revenge? No I just saying, that fear seems to be the motivator on people's decisions and it should be courage to stand up. This will keep happening.
After a few months the only people I heard complaining about the dress code were parents. They learned to adapt and follow the rules. Was that truly a bad thing when they will have to learn to adapt and follow the rules in real life?
After a few months the only people I heard complaining about the dress code were parents. They learned to adapt and follow the rules. Was that truly a bad thing when they will have to learn to adapt and follow the rules in real life?
-- Posted by sameoldstory on Mon, Jun 22, 2009, at 7:03 PM
Except now the School Board is altering the "rules" because many of them were absurd. If they weren't ridiculous there would have been no need to amend the "rules"... But as I said, progress is progress. In a few years, it will become a obsolete policy, because the new policy they adopted is getting closer and closer to the original policies in place prior to this mass hysteria.
After a few months the only people I heard complaining about the dress code were parents. They learned to adapt and follow the rules. Was that truly a bad thing when they will have to learn to adapt and follow the rules in real life?
darrick_04,
Yes, I complained....and would not have changed a thing...yes teachers were against the dress code...I even had some telling what they wanted me to say..., I was at the meetings, and decided after it was all over I would never particpate in another, because the bottom line was and is..they done what the wanted to no matter the cost.
I was against and still and agianst the dress code..it was the rules and I made my children go by it, but I will have to say it was a hard year, my children never wore cloths that was
inapproitate before the code and we stayed in code this year, and there where times this year when they missed school because they did not have anything to wear, but we tried to follow the rules,now did staying home help them, if there where not a dress code my children could have went to school with the good clothes they had before the code, unstead of having to wash the same few shirts and couple of pants every night or every other...glad for the shirt color change,
at least now they do not have to miss.
So to answer the question darrick_04,..its was a bad thing that my children missed some school days because the same cloths they wore to church where not good enough for school, but they enjoyed the free days!
It is a sad day that the board of education should have to address the professionalism of teacher's attire. However, as a parent I too have seen inappropriate attire at three different schools in the Bedford County System. I have seen principals and teachers with skirts or shorts too short or too much cleavage. I have seen teachers that were so sloppy, you would have not thought them to be working. These teachers/principals are in a minority but they are still representing the authority figures in our schools. THEIR ATTIRE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADDRESS BY THEIR SUPERVISORS! This issue should never been required to be addressed by the Board. If these professionals wish to be considered so, they should present themselves likewise. Would they go into an interview or request a raise dressed inappropriately?
The teacher's and principal's position are too important to drop the ball in the area. Unfortunately, like our students, a few have made it difficult for the masses.
tbb61,
I agree with your wholeheartedly, but our children aren't working, they are going to school. They are not professionals. They are children. Why the strict dress code for them first instead of the teachers and principals? I think it should have been the other way around. Then I believe things would have been different.
But lets make this a countywide mandate, everyone should have to dress in all blue on Mondays, Tuesdays, Green, Wednesdays I think Yellow would be appropriate, Thursdays Red, and Fridays could be White and Khaki. Saturdays you can wear any color but it must have a collar with one side longer than the other, and no pants, everyone must wear a kilt! Sunday, you can rest. No clothes whatsoever.
I complained about the dress code because I am a single mother of 4. I work very hard and am not in the system. My kids have never been in trouble. I spent $65 on proper shirts and pants for my kids. ( at goodwill) This was $65 I didn't have. Then because a shirt had a line of white stitches on the collar, my daughter was made to change. My son had a stripe on his collar that was less than an eighth of an inch wide and he was made to change. Both were sent to ISS because of a lack of a belt several times. I could not afford belts. I am budgeted down to every penny. My rent comes first.
adonelson
Contact me at hello_to_u09@yahoo.com I may be able to help you out a little if you don't mind good used clothing.
glad to see community and cascade can now wear their school colors, which they couldnt last year
Don't even get me started on this silly matter of dress code. My son went to school with a dark green shirt one day.. of course it was not approved by the Shirt Nazi's, so i had to come and get him another shirt even though that one was a polo shirt it was neat and clean. Then they wanted to B*&%H about his pants one day, they had the smallest hole in them.
I had to buy all his cloths last year at Goodwill, no one around here had those stupid colours. GRRRRR
When they fussed about the pant issue and then Popped off and siad the replacement pant were too long, I just gave them THE LOOK. I had just had it with the fashion police...So I told him we were going home.. I don't have the gas/time to make the Fashion Police happy..
So we went to Barnes and Noble and had a great day....
anyhow.. man i feel better.... I like the idea of Kilts on a certain day of the week. Hummm. It's a thought,....
tbb61,
I know exactly what you are saying. I had to take one of children to one of the school they could take the TCAP testing, since we homeschool. The teacher that she was assigned to, looked more like someone who just woke up from bed and came to work. She didn't look professional and I even asked her if she was a parent or a teacher.
I am seriously troubled over this whole dress code subject. Yes I am ticked that I have to spend my Husbands hard earned money on new clothes for my children when they already have decent clothes. Yes I am ticked that "some" teachers do not dress appropriately. And I am very ticked that the School Board does not listen to the Parent's say in these matters. What message is this sending to our children? My son after having the dress code read to him, ask me one simple question, " how does this help me learn better, doesn't it just make me look like everyone else?" Hmmmm, I know how I answered him but I am curious as to how someone from the school board would have answered this question. I truly believe there was nothing wrong with the old dress code, that it just needed to be enforced. I also believe that we are sending the wrong message to our children when we do not encourage them and stand behind there individuality and creativity and give them those pats on the back of praise when needed. You take away there chose of clothing, what's next? I send my child to get an education and expand his mind, so that he may accomplish what ever dreams he has for his future ,not learn to be punished for not looking identical to everyone else. Our kids have enough stress and obstacles to leap over then we or our parent's did. They are children for goodness sake not soldier's. "Adjusting" does not mean "In support of" but in our family's case has become a lesson in how to cope with rules we don't agree with but never the less will work with to the best of our ability. Having to buy new item's we cannot afford at this time will be a big headache.I can tell you that most of the teacher's at Community dress decent and the office worker's look professional, the principal's are always dressed in their Sunday best and most of the student's look clean and ready to learn. Their must be dress code problem's at these other school's for something like this to come up. I can tell you one thing though, I WILL NOT allow anyone, be it school board or teacher, etc. to put down my child for a minor dress code violation and risk harming his self esteem or taking him away from his class room learning time if he is clean and dressed decent, leave him alone and let him learn. I believe if more parent's stood behind our children this way, we could help them accomplish so much. What happened to teaching our children true honest values? What happened to teaching them what the Pledge of Allegiance stands for? What happened to words of praise and words of encouragement? It's sad, truly sad. I was given a great education growing up, WITH NO DRESS CODE, a shame student's cannot have that same experience today. One mom said to me the last day of school, that having a dress code will not make student's not be able to tell who has money or not, it will not make them be accepted in all circles and it will not make them smarter, it will not cause them to not be singled out for what ever reason and it will not make them like school. Now think on that.
As a student, rather than a parent, the dress code is insane. I never wore clothes that were inappropriate before the dress code, and only a few people actually dressed inappropriately to begin with. I feel that if those people were punished instead of the whole school system, we would have all the extra money left from buying clothes we probably ONLY wear to school for other more important things. It's hard to please administrators throughout the day because some teachers feel you may be in dress code, then by the last class of the day you could get in trouble. The rules are too sketchy and hard to follow completely, especially if the administrators do not agree with each other on what is in compliance and what isn't. All in all, dress code does not help anything, being in high school.. we've grown up with everyone we go to school with.. and we know each other.. dressing the same isn't going to welcome someone into a group they weren't in before and it's not going to keep from singling someone out. Like I said, it doesn't help.
As a student, I know my opinion will not be considered as much as an adult's, but I truly do find the dress code to be impractical and ridiculous. How is it helping students learn when teachers take time out of class to check if students are in dress code? How does it stop students from being violent? How does it discourage scandalous, lewd, or perverted behavior? Let's be honest; an ugly collared shirt will never stop teens from doing inappropriate things. I have not seen a change in attitude in my peers. If anything they spend more time talking/complaining about the dress code than they do learning. If certain students were dressing inappropriately before the whole dress code deal, why not punish those individuals? Punishing the whole school is not and will not help. Yes, it is a punishment, or it definitely feels like one. I just want to go through my last year of high school and wear whatever I want to wear. Why can't we just get rid of these ridiculous rules? It would have saved time and money. I want to LEARN, not be criticized on my clothing choices. When did school become People Magazine? Half the teachers don't do anything to improve their teaching. Maybe that's what the school board should be looking at. Better teaching. Outwardly, our school may look 'smart' with our dress code look, but dressing a certain way does not raise IQ points or grades.