Parents target school dress code, all-girls assembly

Two times this school year, eighth-grader Macey Plumb was busted by the fashion police: teachers at Woodstock Union Middle School.

Early in the school year, her English teacher told Macey her shorts were inappropriate. The school purple cocktail dresses code says shorts have to be closer to the knees than to the hips, with a minimum seven-inch inseam. The teacher contended Macy's shorts were in violation.

photos:http://www.marieprom.co.uk/purple-prom-dresses

Her shorts were "much closer" to her knees than hips, Macey said. She was certain the inseam met the standard. She got a ruler and measured. “They were maybe 14 inches,” she said.

Her second violation was a T-shirt she got at a Blue Man show in Boston. The shirt has three stick figures on it and says “Shake that Thang.” It also lists many names for rear end, written in tiny script and thought by Macey and her parents to be funny. But Macey, 13, was told to cover up her shirt. She put on a sweatshirt.

“We buy my daughter’s clothes,” Macey’s father, Stephen Plumb, said. “Everything we buy her, we approve of. We’re sanctioning it. When she wears it to school, if she gets called on it, it’s kind of a reflection on us.”

Two times this school year, Macey attended a school assembly about dress-code policy. The first was at the beginning of the year, a routine event, in which school officials met with Macey and her classmates to go over the school handbook, including the dress code. The second meeting was April 22, a refresher on the dress code as the weather turns warm and students’ clothes start to reflect milder temperatures. This meeting, by grade level, is also routine.

But this year the spring meeting was different. School administrators decided to hold a girls-only meeting. Eight female staff members �" seven teachers and an office assistant �" met with the girls by grade. A corresponding meeting for boys never was held.

A group of parents and students say it was wrong to single out the girls. Girls were given the message that their clothes could be a distraction to the boys, they say. About two dozen students wrote a letter to the local newspaper. Among the points: Girls were made to feel responsible for boys' behavior.

The letter reads in part:

“Students were specifically told that the dress code was in place to keep boys from being distracted by a girl’s clothing or body during school. Girls were warned that boys were standing under the stairs trying to look up girls’ skirts. The girls in our school were made to feel responsible for distracting boys and made to feel uncomfortable with their bodies, like they were suddenly not allowed to acknowledge that they had shoulders or legs.”

That girls were made to feel responsible for boys’ behavior is “not OK,” said Alice Worth, superintendent of the Windsor Central Supervisory Union, which includes Woodstock Union Middle School.

“We as adults need to fix it so they don’t feel that way,” Worth said. “I am absolutely committed to (ensuring) that no child or student feels objectified or humiliated. We are here to protect them from those kinds of things.”

Macey Plumb and her parents are among those who signed the letter.

“My daughter thinks that it's a very sexist thing,” Stephen Plumb said of the meeting. “And it is. ... She was disgusted; she was kind of enraged. And we were too. It’s Woodstock Middle School, and we would expect that the school would be a little bit more progressive.”

Administrators say the female-only meeting was meant to be a respectful way of talking with girls about the dress code. “Unfortunately the intent was misinterpreted,” principal Dana Peterson said by email.

In retrospect, organizing the talk by gender was a “mistake,” Worth said. The fact that boys never had a meeting is a "bone of contention," she said. "I appreciate that."

But she maintains school officials were doing what they thought was best for students.

“I have complete faith that in their hearts they thought they were doing the right thing,” Worth said. “Their intent was to be respectful, but they made a mistake. They made a mistake the way they handled it, and we will fix that so it will not happen again.”

Worth suggests the dress code �" and the procedures surrounding it �" was a “sleeping giant.”

“It’s underground until it pops up,” Worth said. “This is a huge issue for me.”

School officials thought it was necessary to talk with girls separately, because teachers “were seeing evidence that the kids were flagrantly flaunting these procedures,” Worth said.

In addition, discussions surrounding the dress code can be sensitive and complex, she said.

“What happens when they wear a really short skirt, and they bend over?” Worth said.

Worth met with the entire school Wednesday and said she told them she agrees with the dress-code policy �" which applies to grades 7-12 �" but procedures and implementation at the middle school need to be examined.

She was impressed by students who showed that the seven-inch inseam rule is unfair in its application: A taller student will show more leg than a shorter one.

“The kids are so fantastic and so smart,” Worth said.

At the meeting, Worth said, she shared with students her view that the school's handling of the dress code meeting �" which the district "owns" �" is being "politicized."

One parent who is vocal about the issue is Alison Taylor, an educational consultant with an eighth-grade son and a daughter who will be in middle school next year.

“Ultimately, people want to see the dress code revised,” Taylor said. “Not only the content of it. But when it is interpreted and applied and enforced, it’s done in a non-sexist and non-discriminatory way.”

Davis Taylor wears his track uniform that he wanted to wear in class on Team Spirit Day this week, but after a female student was told she couldn't wear the uniform, Davis kept his sweatshirt on.

Monday was team spirit day at the school. Alison Taylor’s son Davis, 14, is on the track team. He and other track athletes wore their running tops to school, hoping to display school spirit with their green-and-white Woodstock Track singlets. But the dress code says straps on sleeveless shirts must be at least three inches wide.

"The second she was taking it off, the teacher stopped talking and said, ‘You need to put more clothes on,'" Davis said. A friend of Davis’s, a girl, started to take off her sweatshirt in class, wearing her track jersey underneath.

He also wore his track top with plans to display it. After his friend was called out, Davis kept his sweatshirt on. “I didn’t want to get in trouble for it,” he said.

The dress code is definitely harder for girls to follow than boys, Davis said. Since the weather got warmer, he's seen about two girls a week told they are in violation, he said.

“It’s a little bit awkward, and I feel bad for them," Davis said. "'Cause I bet they would be embarrassed.”

The dress code at Woodstock Union Middle School mandates that straps on sleeveless clothing must be at least 3 inches wide. A girl was told she couldn't wear her school track uniform on Team Spirit Day as a result.

Davis said he thinks it would've been better if the April 22 meeting had been for boys and girls.

"The dress code is supposed to apply to girls and boys, and I was wondering what was going on," Davis said. "I was confused and a little bit upset."

The district plans a public meeting Wednesday evening to talk about the dress code and related issues.

Students are expected to dress appropriately while attending school. Appropriate attire is that which is safe, does not call undue attention to the wearer, does not cause a disturbance in the school, does not promote, or seem to promote the use of alcohol, tobacco, or illegal substances, and is not vulgar or profane. Safety, respect for self and others, and freedom from distraction are important aspects of the dress code. These three concepts help us ensure that we remain focused on our four important middle school core beliefs: community, respect, responsibility and success for all. Sleeveless garments are permitted as long as the straps are at least 3 inches wide with a finished standard sleeve opening. Mesh apparel is NOT permitted. Tops/shirts and pants/shorts should overlap at the waist. Tight-fitting clothing is not appropriate for, or conducive to, working in a positive learning environment. Shorts and skirts must be of sufficient length to cover most of the thigh (minimum 7” inseam for shorts); they must be closer to the knee than to the hip. Longer apparel is required because it preserves the dignity of the wearer and is consistent with our school’s respectful community norms. Material should not be so sheer as to permit garments worn underneath to be visible. At NO time should undergarments be visible. If students wear layered clothing, each layer should meet the dress code requirements or top layers cannot be removed.

We respectfully request that parents help us to ensure a focused learning environment by counseling their students about how to yellow prom dresses uk appropriately for our school context. A student who is out of dress code may be required to call home to have appropriate clothing brought to school and will be subject to the same disciplinary action as for the violation of other school rules and regulations.

Read more:http://www.marieprom.co.uk/yellow-prom-dresses