(© FlaglerLive)
The Flagler County School Board voted 3-2 to adopt a uniform policy on Jan. 17. On Jan. 25, the board met in a workshop to review the wording of the proposed policy, which it will vote on as such at its next meeting on Tuesday, 31. That vote won’t mean final adoption: the policy must still be advertised for 90 days, giving the public further chances to comment. It would be adopted for good in spring, though in effect, next Tuesday’s vote will make the policy all but final.
Here is the wording of that proposed policy in its latest version, as agreed to by consensus today. Strike-outs and red additions reflect today’s amendments to the policy as originally drafted by Valentine and her top administrative staff. A printable pdf of the proposal is available here. The story on today’s meeting is here.
Proposed UNIFORM DRESS CODE 2012-13
All staff members will enforce the dress code. The administration/designee will be the final judge about whether a student’s clothing meets requirements of policy. We rely on the good taste and judgment of the students and the responsibility of the parents to advise their children of the appropriate dress in accordance with the Flagler Public School Dress Code Policy.
Specific Requirements:
Pants/Bottom Attire
- Must be khaki, navy blue or black slacks, or dark blue or black denim. May include pants, walking shorts, skirts, skorts, or jumpers. A small trademark logo is acceptable.
- Pants must be plain without may not have any holes, tears, tatters, or unfinished hems, and must be worn securely at the waist.
- If pants have belt loops, a black or brown belt must be used. Students in grades K-3 are exempt.
Shirts
- Shirts must be short or long sleeve polo style, oxford style, or button-up dress shirt with a collar. A small trademark logo is acceptable.
- All schools may use the district colors of white or grey and choose up to two additional standard school colors. Shirts must be solid color.
- On designated school Spirit Days or special events, students may wear their school logo t-shirt, team jersey, or club shirt.
- It is recommended shirts be tucked in. Cleavage must be covered.
Outer or cool weather attire
- Zip- or button-up or “over the head” sweatshirts or sweaters are acceptable as long as required dress attire is worn beneath.
- Items must be solid color in white, grey or the approved school colors. A small trademark logo is acceptable.
- School logo items are acceptable.
- Standard, required dress code must be worn, even when wearing cool weather attire.
The following general rules apply to dress code:
- Shorts, skirts, skorts, or jumpers are acceptable if they are within 4” above the knee.
- Hats, headgear, or any head covering (bandanas, sweatbands, and du-rags) will not be allowed.
- 3. No undergarments are to be seen at any time.
- Wearing apparel which tends to identify association with secret societies or gangs as prohibited in Florida Statutes is not allowed.
- No sunglasses can be worn inside buildings.
- All chains that hang outside clothing are not allowed.
- Any jewelry or accessory that presents a safety or health hazard or causes a major disruption to the educational process is not allowed.
- Footwear that is a safety hazard will not be allowed. (i. e. footwear with wheels, including but not limited to Heely’s.) K-6 must wear enclosed shoes or athletic shoes; 7-8 may wear enclosed shoes, athletic shoes, or sandals with a back strap; high school may wear all of the above and flip flops/sandals. Footwear determined by staff to be unsafe for school/physical education classes will be prohibited by school administration for those activities or classes.
- All clothing must be properly sized for you, it may not be oversized or undersized, and worn secured at the waist level.
10. Tattoos deemed inappropriate by staff must be covered.
11. Contact lenses that alter the appearance of the eye (other than to another naturally occurring color) are not allowed.
12. No trench coats
13. School ID’s must be worn and clearly displayed by high school and middle school students.
According to FS 1001.43, the School Board has the right to adopt programs and policies to ensure the safety and welfare of individuals, including requiring uniforms. It is important for students and parents/guardians to work with the school in adhering to district dress code.
Kendall Clark-StJacques via Facebook says
None of that seems impossible to live with.
Alicha Sweeney Willis via Facebook says
I love this! Not bad at all!
Smith says
You gonna buy my children”s new attire…….added exspense at which is not necessary when all you have to do is suspend those who do not apply by by the rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but no the others should pay the price!!
Tim Baker via Facebook says
It will certainly be interesting to see how well it is enforced.
Alyssa Dane via Facebook says
Oversized clothing? Please define. Most men wear oversized jackets and pants to PROFESSIONAL jobs. Hmmm…
Cathy Clayton via Facebook says
Public input? Hmmmm…..
Alyssa Dane via Facebook says
Flagler County Schools a.k.a. Fashion Controlled Students.
Student says
This is ridiculous, contacts don’t disrupt anything, no one is going to buy all new jackets for cold weather because it’s not the “approved” color, that is too expensive. Maybe if putting students in uniforms is going to help them stay focused and do better, maybe the entire school board should wear uniforms and it might have the same affect on them.
PEGGY CEJKA says
I THINK IF THE STUDENTS HAVE TO WEAR UNIFORMS SO SHOULD THE TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATOR THE BUS DRIVERS DOES AND THEY HAVE MORE RESPECT THAT WAY.
deb says
I think so also. They have been known to wear innappropiate attire as well.
Smith says
Well said…I agree…wonder if they would like to purchase the new clothing attire for us???? bet not!!!!
Kim says
Sounds ok, so what are the two other additional school colors?
FlaglerLive says
Kim, each school will announce its two additional colors at the school board meeting next Tuesday.
Marianne Thomas says
This doesn’t seem unreasonable. It seems as if they are promoting neatness and tact.
anonymous says
Does the dress code apply to staff and faculty or just the students? That would include office workers, cafeteria workers, custodians, para professionals, teachers and administration.
Ryan Tugas, FPC student says
The dress code does not apply to teacher/workers/administration because it would have to be written into their contracts
the guy says
why are they making kids conform to what the government wants? shouldnt kids be allowed to express themselves. they already take away the freedom of speech. if you talk to much in school you get detention shouldnt that be illeagal because they dont allow you to talk. this government is trying to stop the kids generation to be diffrent from the others
BTMS student says
This is ridiculous. Parents will have to buy their kids clothes that they don’t like and will probably never wear out side of the school environment. I find this to be a compleat waste of money. Some people are saying that with uniforms there will be less bullying. But, there won’t be people will just get picked on about their personal apearence . At least when you get picked on about your clothes you can change that but if people say something about your apearence there is nothing you can do about it.
Donna Bunn Lightsey via Facebook says
I’m glad about not requiring belts for the little ones and not requiring shirts to be tucked in. But I’m not happy about trying to dictate the color of a child’s jacket. What’s next? Socks? Underwear?
Lori says
How exactly are you going to prove my child is wearing colored contacts? There is nothing in the paperwork we fill out asking what eye color a child has, so are you going to force her to remove them, which means you will now be taking away her ability to see the board or what ever the teacher is doing at the front of the class. I agree with a previous poster, are you going to pull up my childrens’ shirts to see if they are wearing a belt?! Some of these things are just nonsense.
Mary says
Sounds great…Glad to know school hoodies will be ok to wear considering I just bought 4 of them from the elementary school my kids go to. Seen one earlier were it said no hoodies aloud and couldn’t figure that one out and neither could my 5th grader she even said just make the hoodies a solid color without a graphic on it or the school hoodies.
Lisa Smith says
If students are going to have to wear a shirt with a collar are teachers going to be required to do the same? If you go to BTMS or FPCHS on most days you will see the majority of staff wearing T-Shirts and faded blue jeans.
John Boy says
I’m still wondering if and when we will see Fischer’s wife in a State of Florida issued uniform.
Flagler Mom says
A personal attack on John Fischer – or his wife – has nothing to do with the uniform issue and is totally inappropriate.
**Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people**
The small and average minds of Flagler County that passed and support this ridiculous policy should look for the great minds that can help find a solution to the real problems in our school system – problems that will not be solved with a uniform policy. Let’s leave the personal ives of our elected board and their families alone.
John Boy says
Character still counts unless your a Republican or Tea Bagger.
Flagler Mom says
Yes and we can replace the court system with the News Journal because they know exactly what happened? Again- small mind.
Gina Hall says
This isn’t bad. The only thing that gets me is the colors.
Why do we have to wear gray or white? And why must we always have a belt on?
MHS studnet says
I honestly can deal with almost everything on this list… but I have a closet full of button downs and polo’s probably around $300 worth of them but only 2 of the many I have are a SOLID color. So does this mean that I have to go shopping MY SEINOR YEAR and spend MY MONEY on clothes I don’t like and will not wear outside of class? And the whole contact rule… I have a year supply of blue prescription contacts I just purchased and I am not going to purchase normal contacts when I have perfectly good ones already at home. Plus what will happen on Fridays when the cheerleaders and football players wear their uniform to school? It has been a tradition since the opening of the school. And I would love for one of the board members to show me WHERE the gang violence is occurring. I have never seen this happen and where is the rule that forbids blue or pink hair I mean I find that allot more distracting than the color of someone’s eyes!!!!
Give it a rest says
OMG people read the policy. They are not dictating the color of a jacket. They are only address sweatshirts and sweaters. And you are allowed colored contacts. Read the policy – “Contact lenses that alter the appearance of the eye (other than to another naturally occurring color) are not allowed.” This was address the cat eye/all black/demon contacts. And anyone who doesn’t think we have gang activity going on in this district is delusional. Just read Pierre’s article about the drive by last week with the kid shot in the hand. Come on people this is more than reasonable.
Student says
There is not gang activity in fpc! Plus wearing uniforms is not going to control what kids do outside of school. You said in the drive by that someone got shot in the hand-did this take place in school? NO. Do you think that if these people were wearing kaki’s all day that there still wouldn’t be a shooting? You are the delusional one-just like the school board!
b says
Line 2 under outerwear pertains to jackets/coats—
johnmiller.com says
exemptions-if this than that-more rules…come on people !
sdgdsf says
So its recommended shirts be tucked in? Because I can tell you right now, I will not be tucking in my shirt. I will be uncomfortable and more focused on what I look like then on my class work. I’m already uncomfortable with polo shirts in the first place. I will probably were a sweatshirt for the entire school year. From an 8th grader going to FPC next year’s perception, I will not be liking the uniforms. I mean, I just will not be comfortable. I’m not exact;y “fat” but my body shape has a lot of curves and I have big hips. I always were shirts from Body Central, or Papaya, (nothing inappropriate) I like to wear shirts that make me feel confident and comfortable, They’re usually some what loose/flowy but tight at the bottom and always cover my waist line and cleavage and if they are see through at all what so ever I always wear a tank top underneath. I think shirts like that should be acceptable. I also don’t see what is wrong with Areopostal shirts, I mean they have writing on them, yes, but Hollister and Areopostal never have Anything bad written on them, and I do not see how that would be distracting. I understand some of the shirts Hollister has but the T-shirts should be okay. I would rather were a decent Hollister T-shirt then a Polo shirt. I always try to get one, but I never can without feeling fat or tugging on it all the time. I just don’t see what the big deal is. The stricter the dress code gets, the more kids are going to get in trouble for being out of it. I don’t think these old bats understand because, well, they probably don’t remember what it is like to be self conscious of what your size/shape is, and what you look like. I know when I look at myself and I feel fat and gross, I get stressed and just want to hide. They really should let us dress more freely, because it really will just make things worse. I know they probably wont even care what a Teenager has to say about this….. but they should, because all we are going to do is act out even more…
b says
Was the cost of polos, khakis, etc… taken in consideration for struggling families during this economy already?? I shop thebargain racks for my family and I can tell you now there are no $3.00 khakis, skirts, etc or $5.00 and under specific school regulated colored polos, collared shirts and outerwear — like I buy now—- Who do I go to to in the school district to purchase the required clothes for my kids; since I cannot afford to do so?
matt no uniforms says
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo wat about fishing shirts!!!!!!!!
Smith says
Well said…I agree!! I will send the district the bill.. and i wanted my children to attend private school where uniform is necessary and could afford it i would.
Flagler Mom1 says
Get over it, you buys clothes anyway for school!! The uniform policy is not at all what it could be, and as far as cost, maybe you should research it a little bit. Collared shirts do not cost any more than a regular t-shirt. In some cases they are even cheaper. As far as jeans….. you probably buy those anyway, unless you are one of those who lets their child wear whatever they want to to school.
mother of reason says
when i am at the school games with my younger daughter and girls are wearing shorts that are the size of underwear. you have to think of the influence on the younger kids that are trying to be cool like the high schoolers. i am a mother of 3 girls high school, middle school and elementary. i refuse to buy these shorts for school or home. but this is my standards. to have arguements with my middle schooler saying these are the shorts everyone wear is a weekly. but if we stop buying the shorts then the stores will finally put some apprioate size shorts for sale. this will change things on all levels. i was in daytona beach shopping for this school year and volusia county change their dress code. parents were returning shorts and JC penny had a section of the shorts that were allowed by the dress code. the shorts are just too short and not apprioate. if parents were to set standards at home then the school board would not have to. this is how government works on all levles what is good for the people as a whole. i don’t understand the individual arguement. we can express ourselves in many ways. the way the kids are today worry me. we as parents have to ask ourselves if my child clothes are an expression of themself and how people percieve them. again when i am at the games and the girls walk by i see older people look at them with expressions of disapproval and their peers calling them name. my question is at school activities are there any restrisctions?
c0asting_s0mewhere_beautiful says
I understand a a dress code to a certain extent. But I, like many wonder how we are supposed to be able to afford these school uniform. Being a single mother, trying to go to school and working at the same time, there are some months that I have to scrap by just to pay our bills. And what about the parents that have been laid off in this horrible economy, I don’t think this is fair to that extent. If the children that are breaking the “school code of conduct” dress code at this time, were punished and their parents called to have to bring them proper attire, I guarantee it would help some. I mean my child’s school didn’t hesitate to call me when my child wore flip flops to school, to bring them shoes. If all situations were handled like that then the problem wouldn’t be so bad. And for the parents that don’t bring their children proper attire well then the child should be punished because they knew that it was not appropriate to wear that school.
Give it a rest says
Geeez folks it’s a flippin’ collard shirt – get over it!
This is stupid says
I think this is going to be a big problem for people who can not afford new clothing. It will cause more issues for students who have problems expressing them self already. Give it a rest and let people be who they are.
Class of '13 student says
I don’t care about the polo shirts, personally I like them.
But I will be a senior next year and its just sad to know that I will have to wait for a certain day to wear my senior shirts. Looking at this year’s seniors and years prior no matter what day it was I saw at least one student wearing a senior shirt, but it won’t be like that next year.
Also what about supporting the school’s sport teams? when will we get wear their shirts? Golf, Swimming, Bowling, Volleyball, Football, Band and Colorguard, Track and Field, Soccer, Wresting, Cheerleading, Basketball, Flag football, Baseball, Softball, Tennis, Cross Country, Winterguard, Weightlighting and Lacrosse. I usually see team members either wearing their uniform or their team shirt, what are they going to wear now on game days? Over my last 3 years at Matanzas I’ve bought many sport team apparel and next year I won’t be about to wear it, except for “On designated school Spirit Days or special event” Some of these sports have games throughout the week, and I know personally that its a great feeling to see someone wearing and supporting my team by wearing a shirt on game day.
As for teachers,
After reading some comments, people make it out to sound like the teachers dress just as bad as the students.The teachers at MHS dress accordingly. On Fridays they do indeed dress casually, but isn’t that how it goes? But they still dress appropriately, sporting some type of Matanzas apparel. Thinking about that, why can’t it be that students can dress casually on Fridays?
johnee says
how do you fight a school uniform policy? who do you talk too?