Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A decision on the new dress code proposal will likely be made at the March board meeting.
ELISE FRANCO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN — A decision from the school board on more refined dress requirements at the middle and high schools is just weeks away.
Chris Berni, Austintown Middle School principal and dress code committee chairman, presented an outlined proposal of what a new “limited dress code” could look like for the 2009-10 school year, if the board accepts.
“In March of 2008, I was asked to begin the process of investigating a change in dress code in the Austintown district,” he said at the Tuesday night school board meeting. “After nearly 12 months of research, discussion and debate... we have a document outlining what we believe is the right fit in Austintown.”
Berni said the committee, consisted of five building principals, four teachers, four parents and two board members, began working from models of other area districts with the same dress code ideals.
Initially he said the idea was to have students choose from three colors of pants and four colors of shirts. After much discussion, Berni said that idea was discarded.
“We radically went away from that,” he said. “We appreciated looking at the other districts, but we needed to do what’s best for the community.”
If the proposal is passed, those who attend Austintown Middle School and Austintown Fitch High School will be the only ones affected.
Berni said they will be allowed to wear jeans that are any shade of blue or black. They can also choose from any color cargo, dress or corduroy pants. Shorts, capri pants, skirts, dresses and jumpers are also allowed, as long as they are no shorter than 2 inches above the knee.
Pupils will also have a wide range of choices for shirts.
Any polo, oxford or dress shirts with buttons and a collar are acceptable, as well as turtlenecks and mock turtlenecks, crew-neck, V-neck, cardigan, half and full-zippered sweaters and sweater vests. No restrictions are put on the color or pattern of shirts.
“Falcon wear” will be permitted as well, which means school-sponsored crew-neck T-shirts and sweat shirts will be acceptable forms of alternative dress.
Berni said the reason new policies were created instead of simply enforcing current dress code policies, was because none of the buildings has exactly the same guidelines, so no one knows exactly what they are enforcing.
He said the committee agreed the new dress policy, if implemented, will eliminate subjectivity and confusion.
“We needed a clearly defined guideline of what’s expected,” he said. “Right now we don’t have a freedom within a framework, so enforcing what’s already in front of us is difficult.”
One of the major changes include eliminating hooded sweat shirts.
“We all know cell phones and MP3 players are popular,” Berni said. “Kids can be exceptionally creative when it comes to using these in class.”
He said besides eliminating the ease of playing with phones and iPods in class, the ban on hoodies is for safety purposes.
“It’s a fact that a student who plans to cause harm or vandalize inside a school ... once that hood is up, it’s very difficult to pinpoint who that student is,” Berni said.
He said the committee feels that overall, the dress code will still allow pupils to display individuality while staying within appropriate boundaries.
“We definitely want to give them a sense of individuality and choice,” he said.
Board Vice-President Traci Morse said the board is likely to vote on the proposal at the next meeting on March 11.
“It’s too soon to say what will happen because right now it’s just a proposal,” she said. “We have to look over it.”
Morse said she thinks one dress code policy for grades six through 12 will make for less confusion for students and parents.
“I think it’s good for both buildings to follow the same exact code,” she said. “We need to get everyone on the same page so there are no questions as to what’s appropriate.”
Berni said as soon as the proposal is passed copies of the new code will be mailed to parents.
A fashion show and several parents meetings also will be planned for spring to help parents and students get acquainted with the code.
“Our goal in this is to strengthen the learning environment for classroom instruction and academic performance,” he said.
efranco@vindy.com