Dress code update at Modesto City Schools. What it means for hats, hoodies, bare midriffs
Thousands of Modesto City Schools students’ voices were heard Monday when the school board voted to update the district’s 20-year-old dress code.
Recommendations from a dress code committee made up of teachers, administrators, other district staff and community members were presented to the board, which voted to change or alter recommendations for three of the most contested issues: hats, hoodies and bare midriffs.
Students and adults were most divided on the issue of bare abdomens in a three-question survey recently taken by 5,989 students, 687 parents and 1,625 staff members.
Seventy-four percent of students said midriffs should be allowed while 81% of parents and 83% of school staff disagreed or strongly disagreed.
When the dress code committees’ recommendations were first presented to the board last month, it suggested allowing midriffs.
Trustee Cindy Marks opposed midriffs at the April meeting and “at that time, it appeared to be the consensus among the board,” according to MCS spokeswoman Linda Mumma Solorio.
So the committee reversed the decision on midriffs in its final recommendation Monday, but all trustees except Marks voted to allow them.
“We asked for a student voice and we asked for a compromise, and if we’re sitting here going, ‘Well, no, this has to be the way it is,’ then we are going to lose all student voice and all compromises from here on out,” said Trustee Abel Maestas.
Marks said there was compromise on the issues of hats and hooded sweatshirts but said the board should listen to the resounding wishes of the adults whose job it is to protect the students.
Students keeping their stomachs covered is a matter of “respecting their bodies,” Marks said.
“I just think it’s very degrading to women to do this on a school campus,” she said. “I just think it’s not respectful to them. ... I feel my job is to protect our students.”
In addition to the 7-1 vote permitting bare midriffs, the board unanimously voted to allow hats and hooded shirts or jackets — both things students wanted. Hoodies were not included in the survey questions, but 52% of parents and 43% of staff were in support of hats.
The dress code committee recommended allowing both while also giving teachers the discretion to ask students to remove hoods and hats in class.
Several of the trustees said inconsistent rules from classroom to classroom would lead to more issues and make enforcement difficult. They voted unanimously to allow hats throughout campus and in classrooms.
Several of the trustees brought up teachers’ concerns about hoods being worn in class to cover earbuds, which are forbidden under the new dress code.
The trustees voted to allow hooded clothing on campus but stipulated that hoods must be down in the classroom.
Other changes in the dress code include requirements that tops have straps or sleeves and all clothing must be secure and not expose undergarments or private areas. Secure means that regardless of the amount of movement, private body parts are not exposed, Mumma Solorio said.
The new dress code continues to prohibit clothing or accessories that depict violence, profanity, pornography, gang affiliation, illegal activity, hate speech and threats.
