FORT VALLEY -- The Peach County Board of Education unanimously approved a systemwide standardized dress policy at a Tuesday board meeting.
The approved policy was recommended by Superintendent Susan Clark with amendments by the board, at times eliciting contentious exchanges between the board and the superintendent.
The board has been exploring the possibility of a revised standardized dress policy in recent weeks, with the efforts led by board member Virginia Dixon.
Clark’s recommended student dress code included collared shirts in any color that would be tucked in, khaki or blue shorts, skirts or pants, and tennis shoes or flats.
The board approved that policy, adding the stipulations that students wear only solid-colored shirts, also allowing black shorts, skirts or pants and banning cargo-style shorts and pants.
The issue of saggy pants has raised the most concern related to the issue, Clark said. The best solution to the problem would be to keep the dress code limitations as broad as possible while providing defined punishments, the superintendent said.
Students should “come to school dressed as normal beings expected to go to work, because school is there to work,” Clark said.
In Clark’s plan, those who show up at school with saggy pants will be issued hot pink zipties to hold them up for the remainder of the day. All other first-time offenders will have a parent conference.
On the second dress code violation, students will be given a school uniform to wear for the remainder of the school day. Students will wear those uniforms all year if they violate the dress code a third time.
“If they have to wear the uniform and they’re the only ones wearing a uniform, they won’t make that mistake again,” Clark said.
At one point, Dixon mentioned that while the board had discussed standardized dress, they had not previously discussed the option of using a school-issued uniform as a form of punishment.
“Let me say this to you, board, working on the dress code is the day-to-day operation of the school district,” Clark said. “I have the responsibility as superintendent to remind you your responsibility is to hire the superintendent to run the school district and set broad board policy. I appreciate the fact you’re considering this. I’m grateful you want students to dress better, but deciding what the dress code ought to be is the responsibility of the administrators of the school district.”
With that, board chairman Jamie Johnson fired back.
“This is a meeting of the board concerning policy,” he said. “Now, it’s in our hands. We need the board to discuss this if we’re going to keep this.”
“Do we want this, or do we not?” Johnson continued. “It certainly is part of the administration, but it has to be approved by the board first.”
Afterward, board members discussed whether to keep the language of “collared” shirts in the policy, or specify whether students would be limited to polo-style shirts.
From there, they discussed whether to write an exception to account for the practice of Peach County High students wearing business attire on days they give presentations.
Later, board member Donald Williams and Dixon decided that would be covered in the policy that says “all deviations from the dress code as stated above must be at the principal’s discretion.”
Shortly afterward, the board unanimously approved Clark’s proposed policy with the board’s changes.
School leaders are planning to implement the policy for the 2011-12 school year.
To contact writer Andrea Castillo, call 256-9751.
