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Schools

Less wiggle room in school dress code

What you won't see on Pinellas campuses next year: bare midriffs, shoulders and thighs, or cameras.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published May 25, 2005

LARGO - The Pinellas School Board unanimously adopted a stricter dress code Tuesday that bans bare midriffs and shoulders and requires shorts and skirts to be a specified length.

The changes are intended to "present a more positive focus" for elementary, middle and high school students.

The board also decided that cameras, video cell phones and camcorders cannot be used at school. The rules take effect next school year.

The vote came after a series of meetings attended by district and school-level officials, parents and students that began last fall. The new plan was the least restrictive of three proposals, one of which called for mandatory uniforms for all students.

In a last-minute move Tuesday, board members decided to drop flip-flops from a list of inappropriate footwear, which also included roller skates, skate shoes and bedroom slippers. The problem, board members agreed, was the difficulty in defining the open-toed, open-backed footwear in an era when they come in countless styles.

Tracy Bigham, a mother of three, was pleased with the changes. She said she was shocked when she saw page after page of exposed midriffs, low-cut tops and short shorts in her daughter's high school yearbook.

"I couldn't believe they allow girls to dress like that," Bigham said. "The boys have got to be more interested in what the girls are not wearing than in what the teachers are saying."

Board members began thinking about revising the dress code in December as part of their overall review of the Code of Student Conduct. Their objective was to come up with a simpler set of rules that would give clear direction to administrators and leave less wiggle room for students.

Paragraph 7 of the current code, for example, states that shorts, skirts, divided skirts, dresses and culottes "must be hemmed and not be disrupting or distracting as determined by the administration."

The board agreed that left too much to an administrator's discretion. Further clarifications state that garments must be "appropriate size" and that "clothing not properly buttoned, zipped, fastened, or with inappropriate holes or tears shall not be worn."

The new code also stipulates that all shirts, tops and dresses must have sleeves. "That was a question I could never answer when the boys asked," said Barbara Thornton, a director of school operations and a former principal at Largo High. "It's always been sort of inconsistent, because boys were not allowed to have sleeveless shirts but the girls were."

Valerie Brimm, an administrator in the office for professional standards and a former middle school principal who served on the review committee, said she agrees with the changes and would like to see the district get even tougher.

"I would be in favor of some type of across-the-board uniform policy especially for middle schools," she said. "The high school dress code might not be as strict as middle or elementary schools, but it should be modified to where you could say it was a uniform."

The Pinellas school district appears to be part of a national trend toward more stringent dress codes.

In 1996, the U.S. Department of Education published and distributed a Manual of School Uniforms to the country's 16,000 school districts that identified the benefits of a strict dress code. Among those cited were decreased violence and theft, improved student discipline and reduced peer pressure.

In recent years, 37 state legislatures, including Florida's, have enacted legislation enabling local communities to set their own uniform policies. Now 60 percent of the public schools in Miami require uniforms. In Pinellas County, 13 elementary schools have mandatory uniform policies and seven have voluntary policies.

"I think it's good to be consistent so that the students understand that when you go to school, there is a certain expectation of how you should dress," said Thornton, the operations director. "You're not going to school to play, you're going to work."

The Pinellas School Board voted Tuesday night to amend its Code of Student Conduct, including the dress code. Here are some of the changes that will go into effect in August.

DRESS CODE: All shirts and blouses must cover midriff, back, sides and all undergarments, including bra straps, at all times. All shirts, tops and dresses shall have sleeves and cover the shoulders.

Shorts, skirts, divided skirts, dresses and culottes are allowed. They must be hemmed and be mid-thigh length or longer.

Clothing must be appropriate size, with the waist of the garment worn at the student's waist.

ELECTRONICS: Cameras, cell phones (including the camera that may be part of the phone) and camcorders cannot be used at school.

TOY GUNS: The directors of school operations have discretion with elementary students who bring toy guns to school.

VIOLENCE: "If the attack by you was unprovoked, even if there was no serious injury, you will be suspended from school and may be reassigned or recommended for expulsion."

[Last modified May 25, 2005, 00:56:02]