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Sixth-grader Tiffany gets sent to the principal's office be cause her teacher thinks the girl is inappropriately dressed. Tiffany is wearing a micro-mini skirt rolled down to just above her belly button and a halter top that exposes her midriff.
Principal Judy Montgomery, of Sacramento's Bear Flag Elementary School, takes Tiffany home to change her clothes and to check in with her parents. Their reaction isn't what she expects.
"Her mother was upset with me," Montgomery says. "Shesaid, 'I think she looks cute!'"
In an era where some parents seem unwilling or unable to draw the "clothes" line with their children, where pop culture influences kids' clothing choices as never before, and school safety-including gang violence-is at the top of everyone's minds, school uniforms and dress codes can play a significant role. But what that role should be is open to interpretation and can be a source of frustration-and skirmishes.
Dress Codes and the Ed Code
California Education Code 35183 gives school districts the power to regulate student attire, declaring that "schools need the authorization to implement uniform clothing requirements." On the other hand, it also states, "The governing board shall provide a method whereby parents may choose not to have their children comply with an adopted school uniform policy."
This legislation can be exasperating. For the most part, districts allow schools to decide whether to impose dress codes or require uniforms. School officials I interviewed sought their constituents' buy-in, asking parents and students to vote on the issue and typically requiring about 75 percent approval to proceed. That leaves the 25 percent who don't approve, and disapproving parents certainly influence their children's attitudes, which adds to the difficulty in administering the rule. Then there are parents who opt their children out of the provision.
At Montgomery's school, only about 1 percent of parents officially opt their kids out, "But there is a huge problem with about another 30 percent who do not sign a waiver and do not abide by the policy.... There is not enough meat in the policy to actually require families to abide by the uniform, which makes it very hard to enforce."
Every day,...