The Kingston City School District dress code appears set to follow quickly changing trends in fashion by undergoing an update a little over a year after it was last amended.
According to feedback from students and parents alike, efforts by the district to allow students the leeway to interpret some passages in the code led to unwelcome confusion. Trustee Suzanne Jordan, chair of the Policy Committee, discussed the potential dress code changes during a meeting of the Board of Education held on Wednesday, June 7.
“This has been such an interesting process because we got feedback from both middle schools and the high school, and interestingly enough we have come full circle,” said “The feedback from both students and parents was a desire for more specificity and, to be candid, a more stringent code than we proposed.”
Specific details about the changes to the two-page dress code were not revealed, but Jordan said plans were underway to “delete any language that may be gender specific, lead to body shaming, or discriminatory kind of preferences in any way.”
“A big problem is the torso,” said Jordan.
The code as currently written prohibits dressing or appearance which is “vulgar, obscene, libelous, or advocates discrimination or denigrates others on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, body type, national origin, ethnic group, creed, religion, religious practice, gender (including gender identity and expression), sexual orientation, age, marital/parental status, disability, political, social, socio-economic, lifestyle differences or predisposing genetic characteristic.”
The code also disallows wearing clothes that encourage illegal activities or violent crimes, as well as any gang colors or endorsements of gang activity. Clothing with messages favoring sexual activity, the use of controlled substances, illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco use is also forbidden. Unless used in a utilitarian or protective nature, or is worn for religious or medical reasons, headwear is also not acceptable in the current dress code.
Other code violations include wearing of shirts with overlong sleeves, tops with shoulder straps narrower than the wearer’s second and third fingers in width; and shirts, shorts or skirt slits shorter than one inch beyond the wearer’s fingertips.
While some of those rules may appear strict, those surveyed said there was too much ambiguity in the code, Jordan said.
“We went through such lengths to try to make it as nimble, as flexible as possible,” said Jordan. “But people really want to be told specifically what they can and can’t wear.”
Jordan said the policy was sent to secondary building principals for review, while at Kingston High School, the district’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Kathy Sellitti met with students. A group of students at J. Watson Bailey invited members of the Policy Committee to discuss the code, and a districtwide parent group also reviewed the policy.
“There were representatives from every school in the parent group that had an opportunity to meet,” Jordan said. “Several (School) Board members and the superintendent were at that meeting as well.”
Jordan said the feedback was “pretty consistent” in the call for a more stringent dress code.
“Unfortunately we can’t provide uniforms for everybody,” Jordan said. “But I guess in retrospect we didn’t have such terrible policy to begin with.”
The dress code is part of the Student Code of Conduct and the Kingston High School Student Code of Conduct, also known as the Jefferson Code. It is reviewed annually and has been previously revised in June 2022, January 2017, August 2013, September 2009, and December 2007.
Students who violate the dress code are required to modify their appearance by covering or removing offending items, or by replacing it with something more acceptable. Students who repeatedly fail to comply may face further discipline, up to and including out of school suspension.
Saugerties School District
In order to understand the existence of the Saugerties Central School District’s (SCSD) dress code, as well as the importance of revamping it every now and then, it’s critical to examine history.
At least that’s how Kayla Lamb sees it. Lamb, a school psychologist, CSE (Committee on Special Education) and administrative intern, opened a discussion on the future of the dress code in the SCSD by investigating its past.
“I’m really interested in understanding the why behind things,” Lamb said during a meeting of the Board of Education held on Tuesday, June 13. “Why are we looking at the dress code policy? And why are dress code policies a thing?”
While schools have established their own dress codes in the United States since around the time of the first schools in the country, the first dress code law was established in 1969 following a Supreme Court decision in the First Amendment case of Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent School District. In 1965, five students in the DMISD — four Tinker siblings, along with 16-year old friend Christopher Eckhardt — wore black armbands to protest the American involvement in the Vietnam War, and in support of a Christmas Truce called for by Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Principals in the district learned of the planned protest beforehand and created a policy stating that schoolchildren wearing an armband would be asked to immediately remove it; refusal to comply would result in immediate suspension.
Though the Supreme Court sided 7-2 with the students, the decision established a framework for school districts to create dress codes geared toward limiting clothing and other adornments deemed by the community as potentially disruptive.
Lamb’s history didn’t include the SCSD’s own dress code origins, but it did tackle more recent iterations, particularly where it’s set to change. But first, she detailed the process by which the changes were considered. In January of this year, the district created two subcommittees comprised of teachers, guidance counselors, parents, administrators, School Board members, school resource officers and students. Each subcommittee met monthly to review and modify the district’s dress code.
“When we’re looking at the dress code that we currently have, it is really important to understand what we had, and some parts were good, but some were just outdated,” Lamb said. “New language needed to be reworked, new things needed to be added.”
Additionally, Lamb said a student survey was created and shared with two high school teachers who held class discussions and lessons about the dress code police, and then sought input and opinions from the kids who’ll be expected to comply with the new rules. A total of 51 students participated in the classroom survey project, with nearly all — 94.1 percent — reporting back that they were previously aware that the district already had a dress code policy. 68.6 percent of the students said they’d never been spoken to about dress code violations, and the majority of those who had said they’d broken the rules against wearing hats or hoods in school.
Lamb said the majority of those polled, 64.7 percent, favored the updated dress code policy and said it was equitable for all students.
The updated dress code will go into effect for the 2023-24 school year, and will according to Lamb be less ambiguous, less discriminatory and will allow for conversation going forward.
“We removed all subjective language,” Lamb said. “One example I can remember specifically is there’s something in there about an inappropriate amount of skin. And what that means to me is different from what it means to you, different administrators, students and parents.”
Other subjective language removed from the policy includes words like “grooming” and “hygiene,” as well as the inequitable application of “fingertip” sleeve length restrictions. At the behest of students surveyed, pronouns and traditionally gender-specific clothing items were also removed from the dress code policy.
“Now they’re all just students in the school,” Lamb said.
In the case of dress code violations, students can request to speak to a different staff member. Potential disciplinary actions resulting from violations are no longer about the violation itself, but rather insubordination if a student refuses to modify their dress to adhere to school policy.
“Students wanted to know that their fellow students wouldn’t be sent home because their shirt was too short,” Lamb said. “You’re not going to be disciplined just for dress code violations, but students who violate the dress code will be required to comply with teacher/administrator requests to cover up or remove the offending item. Any student who refuses may be subject to further discipline, um, such as do this due to insubordination…You curse or yell or flip a table, now we have a disciplinary action. But just because you wore something that offended didn’t mean you’re going to be disciplined.”
There is also language in the new dress code focused on approved violations, such as spirit days where hats or pajamas might be encouraged and on-campus sporting events. And there is also room for 504 and IEP exceptions in the new dress code.
Trustees said they favored the new dress code, along with the inclusive approach to putting it together.
“I just appreciate the work,” said School Board member William Ball. “It is a living document, just like any code of conduct.”
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