Lorain dress policy enforcement pushed back
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LORAIN — Students will not be required to wear uniforms until January at the five Lorain schools that recently adopted the uniform policy, Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said Thursday.Questions surrounding whether the district provided appropriate notification to parents regarding the new dress code — state law says that parents must be notified six months before a uniform policy takes effect — prompted Atkinson to take a softer approach for the first half of the school year.
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SCHOOL STARTS 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. 8:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. General Johnnie Wilson Middle 8:40 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. Whittier Middle 7:35 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. Admiral King High Southview High |
“We won’t fully enforce the policy until January, but we will be encouraging students and working with parents to wear uniforms earlier,” she said.
She has already been in discussions with principals at the five schools — Admiral King and Southview high schools, Whittier and Longfellow middle schools and Lowell Elementary — about implementing creative methods to get students to wear the uniforms early.
Since the policy won’t be enforced right away, students will not be disciplined for violating the code. Come January, however, discipline will include detentions and in-school suspensions after the first warning.
Also Thursday, the Lorain school board approved rehiring 67 laid-off teachers while also voting to lay off an additional 12 elementary school teacher aides to help cut costs from the general fund.
The district announced the recalls earlier this month after Treasurer Ryan Ghizzoni located $3.5 million in federal money and slashed $1.6 million from the district’s budget.
The bulk of those who were recalled taught in the elementary schools, where 36 teachers will be going back to work. Fourteen middle school teachers and three high school teachers also were called back, along with 14 special education teachers. An additional teacher for gifted students was also recalled Thursday using grant money for the upcoming school year.
Atkinson has said she hopes to bring back more teachers but won’t know if she can until she learns whether U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has been successful in his efforts to help the district secure a three-year, $10.5 million federal magnet grant that could restore art, music and gym classes.
The board voted last month to lay off a total of 243 teachers and an additional 22 preschool teacher’s aides to avoid a looming $15 million debt.
Contact Adam Wright at 653-6257 or awright@chroniclet.com.
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