City council tackles school dress codes |

Last week, the City Council approved legislation aimed at addressing inequities in public school dress codes, which some students and activists say unfairly target and criminalize LGBTQ+ students and students of color, according to a City Council press release. The legislation aims to create a more transparent and uniform dress code.

House Bill Int. 0118, co-sponsored by Queens Councilmembers Julie Won (D-Long Island City), Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) and Tiffany Cabn (D-Astoria), would require the Department of Education to post dress code policies on its website and report them to lawmakers, including information on whether each school has a policy and data on reported violations and sanctions, broken down by month, week and student race and gender.

The reports required by the bill would expire and be deemed repealed after five years, according to the text of the bill on the council's website.

Int. 0118 was unanimously approved and is awaiting signature by mayors.

The Council also approved Resolution 0292, which directs the DOE to create an inclusive school dress code policy that complies with Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act, a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational institution receiving federal financial assistance and that takes into account cultural diversity, gender expressions, and body diversity.

The text of the resolution states: According to the DOE's School Discipline Code, wearing clothing, head coverings or other items that are considered dangerous or disruptive to the educational process is classified as uncooperative or noncompliant behavior and may result in disciplinary action such as student-teacher conferences, parent-teacher conferences or exclusion from extracurricular activities or communal lunch.

The resolution also states that, according to Girls for Gender Equity, an advocacy group, school dress code standards target transgender and gender-nonconforming youth of color who are disproportionately punished for dress code violations.

He argues that a citywide school dress code policy should be created through consultation with diverse communities within the DOE school system and engagement with the youth who are affected.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Queens City Councilors Jennifer Gutirrez (D-Brooklyn, Queens), Nantasha Williams (D-St. Albans) Cabn and Won. It passed by voice vote, although Councilors Joann Ariola (R-Howard Beach), Bob Holden (D-Maspeth) and Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone) formally indicated their intention to vote against it, according to the Council minutes.

Asked for her thoughts on the measure, Ariola told the Chronicle: “The resolution was unnecessarily performative, given that the federal government already requires all schools to comply with Title IX as it stands. It was little more than a show by some members of the Board so they could pat themselves on the back and get their names in the press, but it really didn’t make any sense. For that reason, I didn’t feel it was a good idea to vote for it.”

An Elmhurst teacher told the Chronicle that her school does not have a standard uniform, but all students are expected to dress respectfully.

She added: “I have not personally witnessed bullying targeted because of someone’s religious dress or gender identity, but just because I have not witnessed it does not mean it cannot happen. I would hope that if it were an issue, my students would confide in me.”

She said occasional explicit language on T-shirts and girls wearing cropped tank tops and short shorts during warmer months are the worst problems at her school.

Teens will always experiment with their style, the educator said. As long as they don't hurt anyone or disrupt learning, they should be encouraged to express themselves.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Jamaica) said in a council news release, “By requiring greater transparency and calling for inclusion in dress codes, our legislation can help advance anti-discrimination protections that support all students.”

Asked to comment on the councils' legislation, DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer said in a statement: “Consistent with New York City's public school dress code guidelines, dress codes are decided at the individual school level and require schools to examine the reasoning and rationale for their respective policies, and schools must take into account evolving generational, cultural, social and identity norms.”

He added that dress codes must be gender neutral and cannot prohibit certain types of clothing stereotypically associated with one gender, and that they must be applied equally and in a non-discriminatory manner.