This week information about the dress code was sent to students, parents and teachers to re-emphasize the importance of sticking to the policies. In coordination with the policy, the community was made aware that these policies starting on January 23 would be strictly adhered to and enforced.
Throughout the school, the student body has been watching what they are wearing to avoid a trip to the office.
“It’s not bothering anybody [for students] to dress the way that they like,” freshman Jaxson Hermes said.
Headgear is not allowed on school property because it blocks the ability to easily identify students. With the strike down, religious headgears importance has faced challenges. If a student is wearing religious headgear, a letter identifying the headgear as part of an individual’s religion must be given to the school. However, some students are still being given a hard time about it.
“So one of my teachers was like, they’re reinforcing the dress code so you need to take [your] headscarf, for religion, off. And I [said] excuse you, it’s for my religion, I don’t think that’s applicable,” senior Rebecca Tilus said. The teacher responded she can’t approve her wearing her headgear unless she received a signed paper. “And I already did that with the school since before I enrolled, what are you talking about? And then she was, well, the school doesn’t tell me, so I literally don’t know what to tell you. I was like how many people do you see around just wearing head wraps for fun,” Tilus said.
A main point of focus is “clothing with holes, rips, tears, or inappropriate patches will not be allowed if considered obscene.” The question arises what is the definition of “obscene.”
“Like, for me, a tall girl, if I’m wearing shorts, and like, they dress code me, it was like, these are the same shorts that that girl is wearing. So I think that’s like, you need to take into account height and like, all the situations of it,” Hermes said.
The test of extending arms above the head comes into play more recently as well. This test shows if a student’s bare midriffs and sides show, which is, technically, out of dress code.
“I got dress coded because the smallest amount of stomach was showing. It was annoying because there’s not much anyone can do about it and overall was just frustration because it honestly wasn’t distracting or would cause problems anywhere else,” sophomore Eliana Fortunato said.
If a student violates the dress code, they get sent to the Discipline Office to meet with the a dean. A parent will be called and a change of clothes provided. Once the action is repeated, disciplinary action gets stronger.
If there are any questions, these are the names of the deans to contact with their attached emails, Laura Abreu-Sanchez, Amy Morales, Jessica Reyes, and Jerry Williams.
“Last week we had a couple of students that refused to change so we called their parents to pick them up. We tried to compromise with the students but the deans have strict ocps guidelines that we have to follow and if not we will always contact the parent,” dean Jessica Reyes said.
“Like, if you’re wearing something that could be slightly out of dress code, you’re stressing like, the whole day…and you’re not actually like, focusing on what’s going on? Because you’re like, oh my God, I’m gonna get dressed coded,” Hermes said.
Paraphernalia or vulgar items of clothing that may tend to provoke violence or disruption in school shall not be worn. Anything that depicts hate speech or seems to target students or put students at risk is banned.
The argument of who is more affected by the dress code has been brought up many times before. But with the re-acknowledgment, the student body still provides strong opinions about the relation to dress code and gender stereotypes.
“It happens more to women for sure,” freshman Zane Strait said.
Quite a few students have expressed their feelings about the seemingly unneeded strictness of the dress code. With today’s style and culture, it’s hard for students to find clothes that both fit in the dress code and, in their opinion, express their sense of style. In the end, the fight for dress code is an unending battle that students face, and as style continues to adapt, there are hopes that the dress code may be re-evaluated as well.