Strict Dress Codes: Does your public school have one and thoughts?

What is the problem with having a small logo on a polo? Most places kids/teens shop these days have the small logo, be it a moose, lion, eagle, whatever. I fail to see what the big deal.

I think who ever created it is a control freak.

And those sample pictures, I'm so glad I didn't have to dress like that in high school....LAME!
 
Ours is navy or khaki colored shorts or slacks. If they wear the cargo type shorts all the pockets must be sewn closed. Polo's - no specific colors. Any type of shoes as long as they are enclosed (no sandles, flip flops, etc.) and they must wear socks with all shoes. Back packs have to be mesh or see through plastic. It's a little more detailed but that's the basics. Must wear a belt.
 
That would never in a million years fly at our high school. We have an extremely liberal high school in my town. We have one of the best art departments in the country. IB/AP programs, and about a dozen other specialized programs to the school. The school turns out high test scores, graduation rates, and kids that go to top rated schools. And they all dress however they wish! Now if something is extremely innapropriate, they kids will be sent to the office to change or sent home. Mostly they shouldn't have gone out in public dressing like they did, let alone to school.

I hope that they never go to a strict dress code. Kids should be able to express their individuality, not herded all together as sheep. I can understand the no hats/bandanas thing for gangs, or any other safety related measures. That makes complete and total sense to me. But not allowing a tiny little logo on a shirt? Does the school expect you all to hand make your clothing? That is just ridiculous.
 
Ours is navy or khaki colored shorts or slacks. If they wear the cargo type shorts all the pockets must be sewn closed. Polo's - no specific colors. Any type of shoes as long as they are enclosed (no sandles, flip flops, etc.) and they must wear socks with all shoes. Back packs have to be mesh or see through plastic. It's a little more detailed but that's the basics. Must wear a belt.

For a public school? Can you wear logos?
 

Do they make an exception to the "no headcoverings" rule for religious reasons? What about Muslim girls or Sikh boys who are required to wear headcoverings? It seems unfair to me to say that some kids can wear turbans or head scarves for religious reasons, yet other kids can't wear a baseball cap or scarf if they want to.

Teresa
 
I'm not sure about our district. We are not a very diverse area but I would guess they would allow it for religious reasons.
 
This is the dress code for our school district (thankfully it went in to effect 2 years after my DD graduated):

STUDENT UNIFORM AND GROOMING 7.303

Appropriate dress is the primary responsibility of the student and his/her parent or guardian. In order to promote safety, personal hygiene, academic well-being, and moral development, students shall be expected to comply with reasonable requirements relating to dress, grooming and personal appearance. Students are expected to come to school in dressed appropriately with proper attention having been given to personal cleanliness, grooming, and neatness of dress.

The following is the dress code for grades K-12
except students at Margaret K. Lewis, New Horizons Learning Center, and Tom P. Haney Technical Center.

The dress code policy applies from the time the student arrives on campus until the end of the school day and at all school activities during the school day. Exceptions may be made by the principal for field trips or other special activities:

Tops:
1. Polo/golf shirt with collar and buttons or
2. collared dress shirt with sleeves (no cap sleeves) (underarm must be covered) or
3. turtlenecks, or in grades K-5 T-shirts - all tops must be unaltered
4. School approved T-shirts (club, spirit, etc) - unaltered

Maximum of 3 color (white and 2 colors to be determined by the School Advisory Committee - SAC)
Club and activity shirts not in school colors must be a nationally recognized school sponsored organization, i.e. Key Club, National Honor Society, etc.
Must be a solid school color except for school approved shirts
Small manufacturer’s trade mark is acceptable
Must be tucked in for grades 6-12
Students may layer their tops; however, all visible tops must be in the designated colors. Tops worn as undergarments must be in designated school colors.
Bottoms:
• Belts must be worn if the pants have belt loops
• Belts must be traditional and must be worn in loops and pants shall be unaltered
• Bottoms can be khaki, navy blue or plain blue jeans
• No large pocket style pants or shorts, no bell bottoms, no baggy pants, no hip huggers, no holes, no carpenter pants and no overalls (6-12 only)
• No shorts, skirts or dresses shorter than five inches (5") above the knee caps as measured standing up, (K–5 students may wear jumpers)
• Dresses with sleeves (underarm must be covered) must be one of the school’s chosen colors and a solid color
• Small manufacturer’s trade mark is acceptable

Shoes:
• Closed toes and closed backs
• Sandals with back or back strap for grades K-5 only
• No bedroom shoes

Sweaters/Sweatshirts:
• Sweaters/sweatshirts/hoodies for grades K-12 if school approved
• Must be one of the 3 approved colors
• Must be solid color (unless school approved spirit or club)

Note: School approved means clothing carries school logo and is in school colors.

Other:
• No scarves
• No head wear except sunglasses. Hats or other sun-protective wear to only be worn while students are outdoors during school hours (not during class changes); however, at all other times, the sun-protective items must be properly stored by the student in pockets, purse, locker or backpack
• No jewelry or accessory that may be used as weapons such as chains or spiked jewelry
• Jackets/Coats must have either buttons, zippers or snaps that are from top to bottom. Jackets can be any color. Jackets may be worn in the classroom at the discretion of the teacher.
• Students participating in extracurricular activities shall conform to the standards of this policy while attending classes during the regular school day. Cheerleaders may wear their uniforms when required for
participation in school sanctioned activities. Athletes may wear the team jerseys on game days with appropriate uniform bottoms.
• No bedroom clothes.

Exceptions to wearing the uniform are permitted when:
• A student wears a uniform of a nationally recognized youth organization, such as the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, on regular meeting days;
• A student wears a costume, special clothing or dress attire necessary for participation in a school-sponsored or extracurricular activity provided the clothing complies with District policy.
• The wearing of a uniform violates a student’s incerely held religious belief. Students enrolled in special programs such as on-the-job vocational training, or participating in school activities which require additional standards of dress or grooming shall comply with such additional standards. When applicable,
students shall be required to “dress out” and wear physical education uniforms prescribed by the school.
• Students whose school zone was changed by the school board will be allowed to wear the previous school’s color as well as the present school’s colors for the 2009-2010 school year.

Discipline for violating this policy shall be as follows:
• First and second offense consequences are: notification of parent or guardian; change of inappropriate attire;
• Consequences for subsequent offenses may include one or more of the following at the discretion of the principal:
A. notification of parent or guardian;
B. change of inappropriate attire;
C. one to three days of in-school or out-of-school suspension;or
D. three days after school detention, if available.
• The fourth and subsequent offenses are willful disobedience which will result in further disciplinary action, which may include out of school suspension or expulsion;
• Any absence resulting from a violation of the Student Dress Code will be considered an unexcused absence.

Any interpretation of the dress code that is required of this policy shall be the responsibility of the principal of each school. The Superintendent is authorized to make the final decision regarding the interpretation, application and enforcement of this policy and to make certain that it is being uniformly applied and enforced at each of the schools within the District.

Effective Date:
This Revised Policy # 7.303 shall become effective
on August 1, 2006 and shall replace in full the
current Policy # 7.303 on the said date.
Authority: §1001.41, Fla. Stat.
Law Implemented: §§1001.43, 1006.07, Fla. Stat.
History: New, June 12, 1989
Revised: July 24, 1997; November 17, 1998; June 13, 2001;
January 25, 2006; September 13, 2006; April 25, 2007;
September 12, 2007; June 24, 2009

Each school has 2 color polos + white polos that they can wear. This year the school district closed a couple schools and so those students will be going to other schools. They are going to allow those students to wear their old polos for this year only. After that, they will be required to wear the proper polos for their new school.

They went with "uniforms" because the dress code was not working. There were guys who would still wear their pants below their butt, with a long shirt over it.

this is an easy out - as they can not question what those beliefs are. This the same wording as the vaccine opt out.

as for the topic in general:

I am opposed to overly strict dress codes and uniforms in public schools. I believe those rules should be made with parent input and not solely by control freak administrators. If the community as a whole supports it then it would be OK.

Luckily it isn't an issue around here and they would have an uphill battle trying to implement anything like this!

It isn't the schools job to "level the playing field" as far as "haves" and "have nots" - that's life. Kids will always know who is who. Some kids in school say my DD must be rich and must get "every thing she wants" (we aren't and she doesn't - not by a long shot!!), it hurts her feelings because she has been taught not to act towards people based on that. It isn't the clothes she wears (we buy from penneys, Target, Old Navy, Delias, and occasionally Hollister and the like - DD cares about the style, not the label) or how she acts - it is because of the vacations we take and which development we live in. No dress code is going to change that.
 
Our public school allows for a lot less options than listed by the OP. All shirts must have collars, have no logos, and buttons must be clear, tortoise shell type, or the same color as the shirt. Shirts can only be red, white, or navy blue. They must be tucked in unless they are a polo. If you want to wear a sweater or a sweater vest, it must be navy or red and you must wear a shirt with a collar underneath.

Bottoms must be khaki or navy. If shorts, skirt or jumper, they must be within 2" of the knee.

Shoes must be solid brown, white, or black. (I don't know why they can't be navy!!!) Socks can only be red, white, or navy.

So, I really don't think the OP's requirements are too restrictive but it sounds like the administration needs to do more education before they hand out suspensions.
 
That is a LONG dress code.

At the school I teach at, and every other school I have visited or taught at, there is a dress code. On the whole they consist of:

- v-neck sweater in school colour with school badge
- knee length skirt in school colour of specified style
- plain charcoal grey trousers of specified style
- plain white shirt (with plain white vest in winter if the student wishes)
- plain black, flat shoes
- black ankle socks
- plain black coat
- plain black or school colour scarves, hats and gloves in winter

For sport:
- plain white polo shirt
- plain black shorts
- predominantly white sneakers
- white ankle socks

The hardest bit to tackle is the knee length skirts :rotfl: but rules are rules :teacher: "Knee length" is easier to enforce than "within 2"" etc. - if it's sitting on your knee, it's good, if it's not, it's not uniform and needs to be replaced with uniform.
 
Do they make an exception to the "no headcoverings" rule for religious reasons? What about Muslim girls or Sikh boys who are required to wear headcoverings? It seems unfair to me to say that some kids can wear turbans or head scarves for religious reasons, yet other kids can't wear a baseball cap or scarf if they want to.

Teresa

Our school district is quite diverse, so yes they do make the exception for those that are required to wear headcoverings for religious reasons. The other kids can wear hats etc, just not in class.

At first the parents fought going to uniforms. But now they found that it is much easier. The school district has been refining it over the last couple years, but I was so glad that my DD was already out of school and did not have to deal with this. Especially if it was her last year in school. This went into effect for the 2006-07 school year, DD graduated in 2005.
 
I was thinking about this last night.. and it honestly upsets me beyond belief that kids are being forced to turn into sheep. The no stripes/multiple colors just does not make sense to me. I know one person mentioned that the principal said there were hidden messages in plaid. I've never heard of that in my life, and I think it's just ridiculous. Maybe schools should worry less about plaid, and more about gang colors then. Oh, well there goes all the colors.. can't wear blue, red, green, black, white, or yellow. There are literally no colors that gangs don't use, so saying they're banning colors to prevent gang problems is not going to work. As for leveling the playing field.. until everyone is living in the same modules, no class system wearing all uniforms and nobody drives a car, the playing field will not be level. That to me is reminescent of 1984, and Brave New World, and I pray things will never be that way.

How are you supposed to teach your child to be their own person, not follow the crowd, when they can't pick our their own outfits in the morning? When they can't dye their hair because they might get in trouble? I would have no problem with my child (future child, that is) putting a few streaks of color in their hair if that is what they want. It's just hair, it'll wash out eventually. I guess what I'm getting at here is tht if the school district my child was in made these kinds of rules, my child would be homeschooled or driven to another district.
 
Our kids can only wear plain colored polo shirts or button down shirts with either khaki or navy plain pants with no more than four pockets.

This is pretty much what DS5's dress code is currently. Red, white or navy polo shirt with khaki or navy pants/shorts/skirts. Any sweatshirts, hoodies, jackets, anything must follow those guidelines as well.

The part that ticked me off was they sent home one set of "rules" with yet another at the "Meet the Teacher" hour they had the week before school started... :headache:

I loved when asked why teachers didn't have to follow the uniform policy and the answer was it wasn't an attractive look on many of the teachers. Ha Ha, there are kids that are bigger than the teachers so I guess its ok for kids to go around looking unattractive.

Its a huge expense because now we are buying 2 sets of clothes. School clothes and after school clothes. Sure you had the occasional kid who pushed the boundaries, but you still have those.

You will never convince me that the kids are getting a better education because we outlawed stripes and logos on their polo shirts and everyone has on blue, khaki or black pants.

Give us a dress code, but let the kids wear a cute top and an attractive well fitting pair of pants.

I agree with your post! Our teachers don't follow a uniform either and I'm a bit upset about that - lead by example!

We also have two sets of clothes - DS5 even got new "school" clothes for his birthday that are sitting in his closet because the school hadn't posted the "correct" uniform policy prior to his birthday in July.

Agreed - enforce the dress code policy before having to get to a "uniform" level.

I was a parent who followed the rules to the best of my ability, but hated it.
Like I said, I hate it, but we are rules followers, so we follow the rules.

We're in the same boat - hate every second of it but we'll do it because it's the "right" thing to do.

Improved attendance was the only factor that proved to improve test scores. What a shock!

Our dress code is about safety. It isn't going to increase student achievement unless it allows for another student to actually come to school because they feel safer.

:thumbsup2
 
DD's dress code goes something like this:

tanktops/shirts must have 3-finger width straps
no midriffs showing
skirts/shorts must reach end of fingergips
no violence/sex/drugs/etc on t-shirts or other clothing
pants must not show underclothes (boxers, etc.)
no hats

I think that about covers it. :thumbsup2
 
Didn't read any of the replies.

Our HS has a dress code which is a joke. No one follows it and no says a word to the kids. It is very rare for a teacher to say anything. They will only approach the very timid scared kids, knowing they won't put an argument or anything. As a matter of fact that more or less goes for all other rules too. Shame and scary. Can't wait until DD is finished and graduates from HS
 
Why didn't they just have uniforms? I don't know what kind of problems your school has that it has such a strict dress code. Our dress code is basically no foul or offensive language , the finger tip rule on shorts and skirts, no hats. No tanks, halters, no chains. We don't have a gang problem so as far as symbols, colors or whatever that's not an issue.
 
Trust me, I am wishing for uniforms at this point. It would make it easier on me shopping instead of running from store to store to find jeans without anything on them.
 
I was thinking about this last night.. and it honestly upsets me beyond belief that kids are being forced to turn into sheep. The no stripes/multiple colors just does not make sense to me. I know one person mentioned that the principal said there were hidden messages in plaid. I've never heard of that in my life, and I think it's just ridiculous. Maybe schools should worry less about plaid, and more about gang colors then. Oh, well there goes all the colors.. can't wear blue, red, green, black, white, or yellow. There are literally no colors that gangs don't use, so saying they're banning colors to prevent gang problems is not going to work. As for leveling the playing field.. until everyone is living in the same modules, no class system wearing all uniforms and nobody drives a car, the playing field will not be level. That to me is reminescent of 1984, and Brave New World, and I pray things will never be that way.

How are you supposed to teach your child to be their own person, not follow the crowd, when they can't pick our their own outfits in the morning? When they can't dye their hair because they might get in trouble? I would have no problem with my child (future child, that is) putting a few streaks of color in their hair if that is what they want. It's just hair, it'll wash out eventually. I guess what I'm getting at here is tht if the school district my child was in made these kinds of rules, my child would be homeschooled or driven to another district.

Show me ONE kid in high school that is truly an individual. Even so called "individuals" dress like all of their friends. High school is all about fitting in, no matter how much parents like to think otherwise. Yes, these types of dress codes do limit how much expression you can make with your clothing but your clothing doesn't make you who you are-you do that as a person. If a child it totally depending on who they are by how they dress, there are other issues to address with that child other then the current dress code.
 
Trust me, I am wishing for uniforms at this point. It would make it easier on me shopping instead of running from store to store to find jeans without anything on them.

I think you are wasting your time there-I can't think of any store that doesn't have some kind of label on their jeans. Maybe the Arizona brand for boys that has that leather label on the waist-you could cut that off. For girls they all have some kind of design on the pocket. I think the school needs to be somewhat realistic and figure out that you can't FIND what they are asking you to buy.

A couple years ago the principal at our kids' old school was talking to the kids about appropriate dresses for 8th grade graduation (this was a K-8 Catholic school). That weekend she went dress shopping with her own daughter and discovered that they couldn't find ANYTHING that met the dress code. She went back to the girls at school and told them to do the best they could and she would appreciate if they bought a dress with spaghetti straps if they could buy a shrug to wear too.
 







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