The Stafford Municipal School District has approved a modified dress code for the upcoming school year that allows only solid-color shirts of one in six approved colors and bans open-toe shoes.
By CHAD WASHINGTON
The dress code change is said to be in response to a rise in discipline referrals regarding students not tucking their shirts inside their pants.
Nancy Varga, a parent of three children in Stafford, told the board of trustees last week that the parents were "left out of the loop" when Principal Rebecca Benedict made changes to the school's dress code.
Varga believes that the changes were made without the approval of 65 percent of the parents of the school district, as required by the school policy.
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"That policy is for school uniforms, and we're not going to uniforms," Stafford High School Benedict says.
"The policy does not apply here, and the board discussed it and agreed," she says.
Benedict says in a report presented to the school board that the changes to the dress code have been welcomed by parents, students and teachers.
"This was a morale booster for teachers, because it puts everybody on the same page," she says. "This was a compromise between students and teachers."
The new school dress code bans multicolored shirts, sleeveless shirts (including tank tops and tube tops), sheer shirts and athletic jerseys, meaning students are only allowed to wear solid color shirts and/or dresses in a choice of six colors: red, white, black, gray, navy blue, and pink. Shirts may have logos which are no larger than two square inches.
Shirts can be untucked, but must be no longer than thumb-length when the student is standing. The shirts do not have to have a collar or be buttoned-down.
Sweaters are allowed as long as they are of one of the six approved colors, not oversized and worn over an approved shirt.
Jackets are to be kept in lockers, unless they are Stafford letter jackets or hoodless, zipped fleece jackets in one of the approved colors.
The district has also banned open-toed shoes, including sandals.
"The policy has been there for years," Benedict adds, saying that the "tucked-shirt" rule was put in place after the tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.
Although Benedict says that the new code will help teachers and faculty spot kids from neighboring schools who come to Stafford to see friends during school hours, she says that it "wasn't devised as a security measure."
Varga claims that the dress code is used as a deterrent for possible gang activity at the school, but Benedict denies saying anything about gangs in her report.
"We do not have a security issue at this school," Benedict says.
Varga, who works as a teacher in Fort Bend ISD, also argues that Benedict did not properly get feedback from students on the proposed changes. "The principal never got back to the student committee," she says.
Benedict says she worked with several committees of parents, students and faculty at the school since January and has kept the community informed of the changes.
"I've sent letters out to parents, including two in May in report cards and progress reports," she says.
Despite Varga's claim that the SMSD board was being "sarcastic" over her concerns, the board approved the code.
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