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Among charter schools in suburban Greater Boston, dress codes are anything but uniform

Among charter schools in suburban Greater Boston, dress codes are anything but uniform

 


We don’t have a dress code, said Jonnie Lyn Evans, the school’s executive director. It’s just not part of the culture here.

While school dress codes have long been litigious in public charter schools, they have come under renewed scrutiny at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden after a student was criticized in August for wearing a hijab.

Following the incident, headteachers met with members of the Muslim community to discuss making it easier for students to request religious exemptions to the dress code.

Of the 21 charter schools surveyed in the Greater Boston area, 13 currently have precisely defined uniform policies, six have looser dress codes, and two have no formal code at all, underscoring the wide range student dress standards, expectations and compliance.

Dominic Slowey, spokesman for the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, said charter schools are subject to the same legal restrictions as public schools when it comes to dress codes.

While mainstream public schools are careful about clothing that encourages hate speech or is otherwise too provocative, enforcement of dress codes is rare. According to state law, School officials shall not restrict students’ rights to personal dress and appearance unless such officials determine that such personal dress and appearance violates reasonable standards of health, safety, and cleanliness.

To South Shore Public Charter School at Norwell, students are required to wear a polo shirt with the school logo. To Marlborough Advanced Academy of Mathematics and Science Charter School, uniforms are also required and must be purchased from Tommy Hilfiger or Lands End. Meanwhile, in schools like Christa McAuliffe Charter School at Framingham, students are only prohibited from wearing clothing that could disrupt the learning environment.

Nystrom said the Collegiate Charters dress code helps reduce clothing costs for families and eliminates peer pressure among students who might otherwise worry about wearing the latest styles. He said uniform khakis, a white or button-up polo shirt and closed-toe shoes in black or brown have changed little since the school opened in 2013.

He said the Lowell charter school offers spiritual days and other non-uniform days as rewards for following the policy, though some students still choose to wear their standard outfits.

Our uniform compliance is really a commitment between our parents and our students, Nystrom said. We had no problems.

But not all schools are as strict as Collegiate Charter or as smooth as River Valley. Many fall in the middle, like Rising Tide Charter Public School in Plymouth. Michael OKeefe, school principal at Rising Tide, said the dress code is meant to guide students in dressing for schoolwork. Students should treat their studies as if it were a professional job, OKeefe said, and dress accordingly.

However, the school does not require a uniform and allows students to decide for themselves what to wear as long as it does not contain hate speech, violence, profanity or drugs and of illegal activities, OKeefe said, the result of decades of evolution. of a once strict dress code. Other current restrictions include hats or head coverings, with exceptions made for sincere religious beliefs, OKeefe added.

So that they can express who they are and who they are becoming, [clothes] cannot interfere with health or safety, OKeefe said.

If a student repeatedly ignores the dress code, OKeefe added, they will have a community standards meeting with the student counselor and principal or vice-principal. But because the dress code at Rising Tide is rather flexible and intuitive compared to schools with uniforms, OKeefe said student violations are rare.

It’s not a major battleground here, he said.

Kipp Academy 11th graders Alejandra Arrivillaga and Esther Agbedun, both 16, and Flory Mendez Merida, 17, “model” clothes that conform to the charter school’s dress code. When the school scrapped the code last year when students returned to class, families objected.
Staff of Pat Greenhouse/Globe

To KIPP Academy Lynn Collegecommunications manager Sam Cooke said administrators rolled back the uniform policy in 2021 as they focus on a return to in-person learning following the COVID shutdown.

Alejandra Arrivillaga, 16, student at KIPP: Academy Lynn Collegiate. Staff of Pat Greenhouse/Globe

And then we got feedback from families who would like to review the uniforms, Cooke said. I have noticed that even if students and families don’t agree with the uniforms, they are still able to commit to them because they were involved in the decision making.

Cooke said KIPP aims to use rare uniform violations as an opportunity for discussion with students, asking What’s going on here? What can we do to support them?

Heather Zolnowski, Executive Director of Benjamin Franklin Classic Public Charter School in Franklin, said the school board decided about a decade ago not to implement a one-size-fits-all policy. At the time, she said, Benjamin Franklin had a stricter dress code, which today has evolved into a relatively relaxed set of rules: clothes must be in good condition, must not display vulgar or inappropriate references, and may not reveal underwear. or buttocks, she said.

Zolnowski said the school rarely sees uniform violations and generally does not send students home for infractions. Three years ago, the student council petitioned the board, arguing that jeans and denim do not disrupt the learning environment.

And the board agreed with them, Zolnowski said. It’s a conversation that remains open. Were not immutable.

Zolnowski said new parents frequently ask if the school will switch to uniforms, but most families prefer the current dress code.

To South Shore Public Charter School at Norwell, Alicia Savage, the executive director, said she can’t even remember the last time their common-sense, indulgent dress code was violated.

A similar scenario unfolded at River Valley in Newburyport, where Evans said the school almost never encountered any clothing-related issues among its students.

The only explicit dress restriction students have at River Valley is their footwear, Evans said, but not for any traditional reason. Students carry inside, usually soft-soled shoes to keep floors clean as this is their main workspace.

A lot of work is done on the floor, she says. I don’t think this was going to be your classic example of a charter school in Massachusetts.

The school nurse is armed with a small collection of comfortable clothes if anyone comes to class with anything that disrupts the educational process or threatens the health or safety of any individual, according to the schools parent handbook 2023.

But at a school with such loose restrictions, Evans said there were no hard and fast rules for determining which clothes were disruptive or dangerous.

I just know it when I see it, Evans said.

Africa Studio via Adobe Stock

Katie Mogg can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on twitter @journalistkation Daniel Kool can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dekool01.

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