Dress Code Comment

At the April 9th school board meeting, Sterling McLean-Hasinger presented an excellent comment on the Dress Code. Sterling is a senior at Blythewood High School. 12th Grade student.

Her statement is presented in its entirety and with permission. Comments are invited.

Her statement was well-organized and presented clearly to the Board. I wonder whether the Board will direct staff to respond to her in any way.

Good evening.  I would first like to thank the board for their service to our community.

My name is Sterling McLean-Hasinger and I’m a 12th grade student at Blythewood HS.

I, and several other students in Richland 2, strongly believe that the dress code imposed on the student body is discriminatory.

Richland School District Two Policy JICA states that “students are expected to dress, be groomed, and otherwise conduct themselves in such a way as to not distract or cause disruption in the educational program or orderly operation of the school.”

Furthermore the dress code, as published in our school’s handbook, states that “any items deemed distracting, revealing, overly suggestive or otherwise disruptive will not be permitted.”

My question is, who is being distracted by leggings and crop tops? From what I have deduced from the language and application of the dress code, it’s men.  This conclusion leads to some troubling implications. Not only are women being rendered as objects to distract and attract men, but men are also depicted as entities who aren’t capable of self-control. A boy is made to pull up his pants in the hallway when he’s caught sagging just for them to fall back down in the next few steps, but if a girl is caught with a skirt that’s an inch too short it’s an issue that requires her to be sent home.

Ignoring the implications made by this language, the notion that students and teachers are not responsible for their ability to teach and learn because of of a student’s dress is irresponsible.

I fail to see why an exposed shoulder is considered so “revealing” and “suggestive” that it prevents learning from happening in the classroom

I’d even propose that it is the very act of dress coding a student that is the true distraction from learning.

If  students are being asked to follow a dress code at our schools, I think it’s only fair that students have a say in what that dress code should be.

So what’s the next step? I’d like to urge the school board to review dress code with not only its administrators, but also to the children that are requested to follow it. I trust that every decision made is in the best interest of the student, and that our concerns will be taken into account.

Thank you.