No bare midriffs at school. Wake’s student dress code says stomachs need to be covered.
Wake County school leaders want to make sure that any changes in the student dress code don’t result in kids walking around campus wearing crop tops and other clothes that reveal uncovered stomachs.
The Wake County school system is developing a new student dress code with a goal of being more gender neutral. It is expected to eliminate specific references to banned items that some female students say makes them targets.
On Tuesday, additional wording was proposed to the policy that would continue to restrict bare-midriff tops by saying student clothing must extend from the chest to the thighs.
“Students should dress in a way that’s expected for the workplace,” school board member Christine Kushner, chairwoman of the policy committee, said in an interview Tuesday. “That’s the guiding principle.”
Wake hopes to approve the updated dress code for the 2019-20 school year.
Kushner said the new dress code can still be gender neutral and not body shame students while still setting expectations that clothing such as bare-midriff tops aren’t acceptable on campus.
The restriction on bare-midriff tops wouldn’t apply to costumes approved for athletics, choral, band, dance or dramatic performances.
Wake’s current dress code was adopted in 2002 and and lists 11 examples of items that are considered inappropriate, including exposed undergarments, sagging pants, excessively short or tight garments, bare-midriff tops, strapless shirts and attire that exposes cleavage. Individual schools have also been allowed to add their own prohibited garments.
But some female students have complained that the dress code has caused them to be pulled out of their classrooms.
Based on the concerns, school administrators adapted wording from the student dress code used in Portland, Ore., that’s drawn praise nationally for not singling out female students. But Wake says it won’t go as far as Portland, which allows many clothing items that Wake schools does not.
Wake’s proposed dress code, like Portland’s, sets general guidelines, such as requiring students to wear tops and bottoms with fabric on the front and sides. Clothing must cover breasts and other private parts and must not be transparent. Clothing must cover undergarments, but the tops of waistbands and bra straps can be shown.
Some things in Wake County are still specifically banned, such as clothing that depicts use of alcohol, tobacco and controlled substances; pornography; hate speech; or that poses a threat to the health and safety of other students or staff.
But Wake’s policy adds some language not used in Portland, including how students may not wear clothing that is “reasonably likely to create a substantial disruption of the educational process or the operations of the school.” Also unlike Portland, Wake’s policy would require students to cover their stomachs.
Other wording to the policy added Tuesday raised concerns about whether it would do enough to help Wake’s transgender students.
The draft policy presented in January said any student grooming violations should be privately addressed by a school staff member of the same sex. The wording was revised Tuesday to say an adult of the same gender.
School board member Heather Scott asked if the wording could be changed to say a school employee of the same gender identity. Board chairman Jim Martin asked if students could be allowed to pick the gender of the staff member who would meet with them.
Administrators agreed to review the issue by March’s policy committee meeting.
So far, the district has met with students and principals to discuss the new policy.
Administrators said both students and principals agreed that the dress code should be gender neutral. But while principals said a dress code is needed to promote a positive school environment, students questioned the need to have one.
“(Students) think, generally speaking, we don’t need a dress code unless it really is something causing a dangerous situation,” Superintendent Cathy Moore said.
