The school's "unconstitutionally vague, overbroad and restrictive uniform dress code policy'' flouts state law, violates freedom of expression, and wastes teachers' and students' time and attention that would be better spent on education.
Or litigation, apparently.
The Napa Valley Unified School District's dress code permits solid colors only, with pictures and logos strictly forbidden. So, naturally, one student considers it perfectly reasonable to wear argyle socks with Tigger on them. That or she doesn't care one wit about the oppressive dress code. I'm betting on the latter.
Toni Kay, now an eighth-grade honors student, said Tuesday that she's been cited more than a dozen times in the last 1 1/2 years, and sent home from school twice
Someone's obviously itching for a fight, and the parents obviously have little regard for the dress code as well. Why shouldn't my baby be allowed to wear Tigger socks?
Well, there are several reasons. District Superintendent John Glaser has said that the dress code is intended "to ensure the safety and protect the instructional time of all students." The principal of the school in question, Michael Pearson, says "We do not have to deal with issues of kids who are dressing a certain way because their parents are able to shop at the fashionable stores. You cannot tell on my campus the kids that come from a low-income family." They're not alone; the U.S. Department of Education has also supported these views.
I'm with the schools.
People who sue the school district because their child was sent home for violating the dress code infuriate me. These same people probably complain every time their property taxes go up, too, all the while pursuing costly litigation against the school district. Brilliant.
There are better ways to show your disdain for school policies. You want to show The Man you think the rules are ridiculous? The most effective way is to operate within the rules while exploiting their weaknesses.
Personal anecdote time:
I went to a Catholic junior high and high school. Until the 1970s, it was a coat-and-tie establishment. By the time I got there, the dress code had grown lax, requiring little more than casual dress pants and a button-down shirt. In my sophomore year, they outlawed flannel shirts; you can imagine the ire that arose as a result in 1991-92. The next year they tightened the reigns a bit further, but I don't remember how. For my senior year, they reinstituted the requirement to wear a tie.
HOWEVER: They didn't specify much regarding the tie you had to wear. This was probably in deference to Mr. Hall, one of the English teachers, who never wore the same tie twice in a given year. He had a closet in his classroom full of them, including a gag tie that reached all the way to the floor. Not even the administration was going to crack down on this old fossil.
So I made it my mission to wear the most outrageous, hideous ties I could find. Some I found in my dad's closet, and some I bought at the thrift store. For a couple of months straight I wore the same tie, but I modified it every day with various colored markers. One day I burned a hole in it at lunch. My coup de grâce, however, was the day I slipped it over a straightened wire coathanger before putting it on. Throughout the day I could bend it into different shapes. When I walked by the assistant principal with my tie jutting straight out from my chest, I was finally forced to take it off and put on a normal tie. Everyone in the principal's office was laughing, though - even the staff.
Why must righteous indignation always lead to legal action? If students want to fight school policy, then they should do so while demonstrating their ability to function within the system. If parents want to fight school policy, then they should run for the school board or support candidates who share their ideals. Random carelessness is no way to achieve your goal.
Maybe the problem starts at home, not in the schools. In order for my kids to appreciate the flexibility of school policy, I'll just have to make the dress code at home even stricter. Solid colors? Plural? Forget that noise. From this day forward, unless they're heading to or returning from school, all clothing must be black. Head to toe.
They'll look just like Sarah did in high school.
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