ELYRIA — Elyria Schools has tweaked the dress code for students in sixth through 12th grades for the upcoming school year.
Last year was the first year school officials instituted a dress code that banned jeans, hooded sweatshirts, short shorts and tank tops. However, the long list of do’s and don’ts often left parents wondering.
“It’s easy to get bogged down in the details, but the reality is we are looking for clothes that fit properly and are not too tight, revealing and baggy,” said Amy Higgins, district spokeswoman. “We want kids to be comfortable, look presentable and be dressed so they can focus on what they are there to focus on, and that is learning.”
Higgins said leggings are out for girls for the coming school year. The same goes for all hooded shirts, even those girls shirts with small decorative hoods. As was the case last year, students will not be allowed to wear blue jeans.
“The initial intention of leggings was for them to be worn under skirts or long tunics, but eventually the leggings were being worn with skirts that were too short and did not fall to the thigh, which only worked to push the leggings into the too-tight or too-revealing part of the dress code,” Higgins said.
Both boys and girls will be able to wear collared or rounded neck shirts. That means plain T-shirts with no graphics are OK.
Higgins said that when the district first introduced the dress code for middle and high schools, reactions from parents and students were mixed. However, 90 percent of the student body agreed that the dress code was not too restrictive.
“What violations did come primarily came through confusion,” she said.
Principal Tom Jama said students adjusted well to the new dress code.
This year, to cut down on confusion, Higgins said each building will have a few staff members that will be responsible for determining dress code compliance. It will help with consistency.
Also, each building will still have spirit days and days when blue jeans will be allowed. Those days will be dictated by the building principals.
Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.
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