Jeannette may relax school dress code

Jeannette City School District administrators and board members are looking at relaxing the student dress code, and at least a few parents are praising the possible change.

School directors this month suspended the district’s dress and grooming policy, which required students to adhere to more structured clothing, such as polo or collared shirts and khaki, black or blue pants. Superintendent Matt Jones said he expects the board to change the policy to allow students to wear clothing already in their wardrobes.

“There’s been quite a bit of talk about the dress code over the past several meetings,” he said.

An updated policy could go into effect in February.

Jeannette City students were required to wear polo shirts, turtlenecks, sweaters or dress shirts in solid colors or plaid patterns with dress pants, leggings, dresses, skirts and shorts in khaki, black or navy. Footwear was restricted to dress shoes, boots or sneakers. Hooded sweatshirts, tank tops and crop tops were forbidden.

School directors who enacted the policy years ago said they were tired of students’ overly casual outfits, according to Trib archives.

The dress code, in place for about the last 10 years, was not enforced for specific days or events, such as dress down days or field trips, Jones said.

With the policy suspended, the district reverted to a code that essentially wipes clean all of the requirements. Students now are allowed to use their own taste to choose outfits, though they still must abide by some rules such as wearing pants at waist level and keeping shoulders covered. There are 934 students enrolled in the district as of Dec. 6.

Parent Angela Harmon said she is happy with the change.

“Having a child in first grade who is consistently growing is hard to be able to afford the uniform clothes and regular clothes,” she said.

Shannon Steele agreed. She has children in fifth, seventh and ninth grade, plus a recent graduate.

“It just helps alleviate a lot of stress for the families that live in Jeannette,” she said. “I’m happy with the change, I think it was something that was needed.”

The change was prompted by a couple issues, Jones said:

• When students violated the policy, a referral process started that could take a child out of a classroom, potentially losing instructional time.

• It could be a burden to some parents who have to buy multiple sets of clothing for different activities, such as school, work or play.

Harmon said the change makes it easier to only have to buy one set of clothes.

“My daughter is so happy that she gets to wake up in the morning and pick out her outfit for the day,” she said. “Our small town is low income and a lot of families can’t afford to buy uniforms and regular clothes.”

School officials still will be enforcing the current policy. But so far, the move to be more inclusive has been a success, Jones said.

Pennsylvania school boards are permitted by law to enact dress codes or require students wear uniforms. Students are free to express their First Amendment rights in schools but shouldn’t wear anything that would cause a disruption to the school day such as a clothing item bearing inappropriate language or encouraging unlawful activity, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Schools are permitted to ban certain items for safety reasons, the ACLU states. In Jeannette’s code, that means jewelry items with spikes or chains worn as belts.

Many districts have dress code policies for students, though some are more strict than others. Many school districts around Southwestern Pennsylvania have similar dress code policies to the one currently being enforced in Jeannette City.

Pittsburgh Public Schools allows individual schools to create their own policy, but the district prohibits clothing items, among others, that demean or degrade another person based on race, sex, religious persuasion, national origin, handicap or disability, according to its website.

Students in the School District of Philadelphia are required to wear uniforms. Schools can individually limit the colors of tops and bottoms, according to the district’s website.