A school dress code is nothing new. All school districts have some sort of school dress code. Some are stricter than others. Some allow students to dress casually, wearing things like t-shirts and jeans. Other school districts have a school uniform. And somewhere in-between, many schools choose to have students wear solid colored clothing in colors like navy, black and khaki.
Even the strictest school dress codes usually allow students to wear dresses and skirts as long as they meet the set length requirements, but one school district in Texas has recently modified the dress code to ban skirts and dresses in grades older than 4th.
Forney ISD recently announced a few major changes to the student dress code for the upcoming school year. There were two major changes. The first change includes banning students from wearing any clothing with a hood inside the school. This includes hoodies and jackets. The second change bans students from wearing dresses, and only students in pre-K through 4th grade are allowed to wear skirts and skorts.
Forney ISD released a statement about the dress code changes and created a video to help parents and students understand why they decided to make these changes. In the video, the school district claims that the changes are about “professionalism.” They don’t specifically call out the changes that were made, but in the video, a student talks about how “every profession has a dress code.” The student voiceover continues, “The way I dress plays an important role in professionalism and safety both in the classroom and on the job site.”
According to the statement released by Forney ISD, “The use of a school dress code is established to improve student self-esteem, bridge socio-economic differences among students, and promote positive behavior, thereby enhancing school safety and improving the learning environment.”
How banning students from wearing dresses, skirts and skorts improves self-esteem is unclear, and one student is so upset about the changes that she started a petition in an attempt to get the school district to change the dress code back to the way it was this past school year. Watch the video below to hear from this student and her family.
Why do you think Forney ISD decided to ban hoodies, dresses, skirts and skorts? If you have children, do they have a strict dress code at their school? Do you think dresses and skirts are unprofessional?
