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School uniforms getting dress rehearsal
By ROBERT KING, Times Staff Writer Three years ago, uniforms were mostly a foreign concept in Hernando County schools. A few principals had wondered what it would be like to see their students all dressed as one. One or two even tried the idea of "optional" uniforms. But that seems like a long time ago. Next fall, it's very likely seven of the county's 10 elementary schools will require uniforms. Beyond that, Parrott Middle School is thinking about a uniform dress code that could be phased in with next year's sixth grade class. Teenagers in public schools confined to a fashion menu of collared shirts and khaki pants? That was unthinkable just a few years ago. Uniforms are becoming so prevalent that parents who objected last week to Pine Grove Elementary's move to uniforms speculated that there was a master plan at work seeking to put uniforms on the back of every student in the county. School district officials say there is no such plan. They say schools will always be able to decide for themselves about uniforms. But some School Board members have said publicly they wouldn't object if every school went that direction. In reality, educators say it's unlikely high schools would ever deprive teens of their fashion freedom. But as more elementary schools convert to uniforms, principals at the next level -- middle schools -- may be more tempted to pick up the cause. Some say kids trained to wear uniforms early on will be less likely to object at the middle school level. If that's true, consider how the pump is being primed for Parrott Middle School by its four elementary "feeder" schools -- Brooksville, Eastside, Moton and Pine Grove. Brooksville has had mandatory uniforms for a year and a half. Eastside Elementary starts in January. Both Pine Grove and Moton go to the School Board next month seeking approval for their plans to require uniforms next year. Consider West Hernando Middle School and its two feeders. Pine Grove, of course, is taking its case to the School Board while Spring Hill Elementary adopted them this year. Some of the elementary schools are going so far as to make their uniform colors line up with the colors of the middle schools. All of this has happened in a hurry. The first school in the county to require uniforms was Chocachatti Elementary, which opened in 1999. As a new magnet school, it opened its alluring lineup of arts programs to students around the county. Families were beating down the door to get their kids enrolled. Part of the package at Chocachatti was a requirement for student uniforms. Quickly, that feature became as popular among parents as any of the school's other drawing cards. Soon, the popularity of uniforms spread to other schools. "I am kind of amazed at the speed of how these schools have moved in this direction," said Chocachatti principal Michael Tellone. That happened even though it isn't easy for established schools to make the switch. As a magnet school that draws kids from around the county, Chocachatti has a long list of students each year waiting to get a seat. Other schools are oriented to their surrounding communities. Families get to send their kids to a nearby school because they live near them. They can't force families who live in their attendance zones to go to the other side of the county. At Brooksville Elementary, the first existing school to convert to uniforms, the primary weapon of enforcement for kids determined not to wear the uniform is after school detention. Most of the time, though, a phone call home seems to work, said Brooksville principal Sue Stoops. This year, the non-compliance rate is probably less than 1 percent, she said. Exactly what uniforms do for schools is up for debate. There's little hard research to show that uniforms reduce discipline problems and raise academic achievement. Those are two of the most commonly cited benefits of uniforms. Generally, research on the subject is based on opinion surveys of principals whose schools have made the switch to uniforms. Still, you can't enter a school that's adopted uniforms locally without hearing people point to quieter halls, fewer office visits and less bickering as evidence that the common fashion has had a soothing effect. Critics of the "better discipline" argument contend that if clothes are causing a problem at schools it isn't due to a lack of uniforms but a lack of administrative will to enforce existing dress codes. "If you have something and you don't take the time to enforce it, what good is it?" said Joe Evans, a parent who argued against uniforms at Pine Grove. The most common objection to uniforms, however, is the financial burden brought to low-income families. That argument holds that the free public schools should not mandate an out-of-pocket expense some can't afford. It has also been mentioned that these families have to buy two sets of clothes -- uniforms and regular street clothes. But Susan Bartlett, a Chocachatti parent, said she has been able to get by with spending less than $100 on school uniforms in the past two years. Some items she found at Goodwill. Her savings with uniforms has been such that she can now afford to buy her child better shoes. To ease the financial burden, school PTAs have created uniform closets that allow parents to exchange uniforms as their kids outgrow them. They've also sought financial help from parent groups and businesses in creating funds to buy uniforms. At Chocachatti, the uniform culture is so ingrained that the school has earned some buying power. Now, wholesalers will sell items directly to the school through an order form system. Some say the noblest aspect of uniforms is that they go a long way toward the elimination of class distinctions, which seems to appeal to parents and educators alike. "By looking alike, it has a tendency to make kids feel they are more on an equal basis," Tellone said. But Tizzy Schoelles, whose Suncoast Elementary is one of the few holdouts on uniforms, said schools should be able to eliminate socially-motivated teasing without telling parents how to dress their kids. Schoelles said she would push her school toward uniforms only if parents beat on her door asking for it. So far, that hasn't happened. This, while her school may serve the broadest socio-economic range of any school in the county. "I think that speaks to what you tolerate -- or don't tolerate -- as a staff," she said. Schoelles, however, is a principal who has tolerated students with pink or blue hairdos, something other principals might be less patient with. Generally, those wacky colors fade away in a couple of weeks along with the student's desire to stand out, she said. So long as it doesn't disrupt things, Schoelles considers the aberrations a form of student expression. The way things are moving, though, Schoelles realizes that her school is in the minority when it comes to uniforms. "I guess I'm more liberal than other principals on that issue," she said. -- Times staff writer Robert King covers education in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6127. Send e-mail to rking@sptimes.com.
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