Henrico school’s new district-wide dress code
Dress code
When Henrico County's new districtwise dress code is completed, it will be posted online at www.henrico.k12.va.us/parents/ code-conduct.html . According to the new code, students will not be allowed to wear:hats or head coverings of any kind inside school buildings unless required for religious or medical reasons;
do-rags, bandanas, head scarves, hair picks, wave caps, large combs, brushes or rollers anywhere on school grounds during regular school hours;
dresses, skirts, shorts or athletic shorts higher than 4 inches above the knee;
torn, ripped or slashed clothing that reveals undergarments or parts of the body required to be covered, such as the midriff;
excessively tight or skimpy clothing, including bike shorts and plunging necklines;
tube tops, halter tops, halter-top dresses, strapless dresses, or tops or dresses with straps less than 2 inches wide at the shoulder;
swimwear or sleepwear;
sunglasses unless prescribed by a physician; and
coats inside the school building during the school day, with exceptions based on school design and storage for coats.
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Reader Reactions
Well, I’m going into 9th grade at Maggie Walker so I will no longer be attending Henrico County Schools. I have no idea what the dress code is there, I think it might be fingertip length, but I guess I’ll find out soon enough. I had NO interest in going to Maggie Walker, but of course, my parents were making me. Now that I found out about the dress code, though, I actually want to go there. Still, I feel bad for my friends being affected by the 4 inches above the knee rule. The only thing they are buying is jeans, and they said that’s what they’re wearing all year. Jeans get really uncomfortable for a lot of people after awhile, especially if you just finished gym class or something of that sort. First of all, if you wear clothes you think you look good in, then that already makes for a good day. I know that whenever I wear my favorite outfit, it always turns out to be one of my better days. Ever since I can remember, schools have always told you to wear a good outfit to make for a good day, but we have limited choices now. I’m no expert on what fashion was 10 or 20 years ago, but I know that most people nowadays think capri pants are uncomfortable, and skirts down to the knees are ugly. At my middle school the rule was thumb length. I’ll admit, people were abusing that rule. That was a privilege we had, and like I said, most girls abused it. I think they should make it finger tip length, instead of drastically changing to the 4 inch rule. It especially isn’t fair to tall girls like myself. For short girls, it really doesn’t affect them much, does it? I was talking with my friends mom the other day about this, and her shorts didn’t even fit the rule! She’s a very tall woman, and her shorts were long compared to most.
Also, I saw some adults complaining about how children in the United States are lazy. What does that have to do with dress code? Please, explain it to me. That’s the one thing that bugs me… when people asume every person in that group is similar just because of their personal experiences. We American children are NOT lazy, and we shouldn’t be compared to anyone. We are ourselves, and that’s all we should have to be. We are very creative people. We are NOT Chinese or Japanese or Canadian or anything of that sort. We are who we are, and you shouldn’t expect us to change into something we’re not.
Heyy. I’m an actual 7th grader being effected by this, kay?? It’s not the parent’s fault. IT’S STYLE. Self-expression. And they’re denying that right.
Okay, we’re not hookers. Nobody wears “plunging necklines” or “skimpy clothing.“ Short skirts, yes, but they don’t SELL long skirts, especially if you’re five-foot-six like I am. It’s impossible to get long skirts.
Oh, and the teachers don’t enforce.
“Richmond4real’s” comments are absolutely correct and he or she possesses the experience to support them!!!
Henrico County schools going down the toilet. First the sexting thing..now problems with kids half naked at school. This stuff should be taken care of at home. Teachers shouldnt have to deal with this stuff. These kids arent being raised correctly. No self respect. Our future leaders.
Richmond City has had a dress code and a tucked in shirt policy for many years I’ve been teaching there, and it is never enforced. It is not enforced because there is no clear cut policy on how it is to be dealt with. The first course of action is to instruct the student to tuck it in, if the student refuses, then the teacher has to submit a behavioral referral, call parents and turn in the necessary paperwork. Given you have a class waiting that will soon be off task if you don’t get them engaged soon, teachers just don’t have time to enforce it. If the central admin is going to roll out a new policy, it needs to put resources including people, and a clear list of consequences in place and let teachers get on with teaching.
As the parent of a very good and conscientious teacher with a graduate degree who eft the public school system in a neighboring state at the end of the current year because of inadequate policies relating to discipline, policies which DISCOURAGED (effectively forbade)appropriate discipline for habitually disruptive and disrespectful students, and the absolute lack of support from the administration for teachers who attempted to enfoce discipline, I can tell you the new HCPS policy, commendable as it might be, will not be effective unless it is frequently and clearly communicated, and strictly, uniformly, and fairly enforced by TEACHERS and ADMINISTRATORS alike. Further, in cases of habitual and repetitive violators, the administration (not teachers) must be prepared to deal directly with the parents involved as well as the offending student.
In the case of my child’s experience, an excessively politically correct Superintendant, School Board, and Principal refused to suspect HABITUALLY disruptive, rude, and disrespectful students on the mistaken premise that meting out appropriate discipline would discourage those students’ from remaining in school.
In reality, their ill-conceived excessively socially-activist policies penalized students who wished to learn and were making the effort by diverting all too scarce instructional time from teaching to having to attempt to “control” the habitually disruptive students in the classroom.
Cases which ordinarily would have warranted obtaining juvenile petitions were essentially ignored by the administration and teachers left to have to deal with the aftermath.
I graduated from HCPS in the early 2000’s and even thenm we were not allowed to wear tube tops, spaghetti straps, shorts and skirts that were shorter than the fingertip when the hands were down. The kids must have gotten buck wild and the administrators lazier because I remember having friends sent to the office for skirts too short and having the parents bring in clothes for them or else they could not go to class. Of course there was the cheeleader exception rule. These rules are not new to HCPS..
Jack,
Please educate yourself, before we our forced to set you up with a dress code (for your own good). If your “little darlings” are sub par its likely due to your “Genes” not their “Jeans” As if one comes from a long line of stupidity a pair of knickers is not going to fix it.
bkrbabee,
In essence, as an employee of the school you believe that although you don’t particularly care to see underwear you understand that enforcing the rule could in fact result in a waste of precious resources that could be used to teach the kids “that want to learn” Would that be a correct assessment?
mikeyt,
Kids in general (meaning the majority of them) follow the example that their parents set, if your kids are lazy and stupid, “look in the mirror”.
The ACLU does many things (many of them appear to be over the top) but their core values are aimed at protecting the freedoms our forefathers gave their own blood for. So although they occasionally take a stance on something that seems ludicrous its their core values that put them into that position, and having the gull to stand for those values certainly earns my respect even if I do not always agree with their position on a particular subject. (something everybody should look at before they bash the ACLU)
I do agree with you on the “20 year” movement, and it will only get worse. Take for example the postal service, I do not believe that the government has ever turned a profit with a “monopoly” yet our great (and I use that term very loosely) President believes that the government can perform in the cutthroat auto industry??? Look folks every time a government takes control of private lives or try to operate within the private sector it has been a disaster (Cuba, Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, etc, etc) on the other side of the realm a total lack of government is a disaster as well (i.e. Somalia), a delicate balance needs to be followed and demanding people to act, dress, think, talk or feel a certain way is one step over that line…
A few more things to ponder, why are cheerleaders exempt from these policies, and how can a school have a “swim team” if they are prohibited from wearing swimwear at school or at school sponsored events? Will slightly overweight children be persecuted because gravity tends to force the exposure of their butt crack?, If a child has a disability will he be required to join a religion that requires head gear in order to wear his helmet?, If a child has one leg longer than the other will he/she be forced to have custom shorts manufactured in order to abide by the 4” rule? Are girls allowed to wear strapless dresses to the prom? Does the school board have a plan to address the length of shorts that can be worn by an amputee? Is there an exception for headgear worn by the football team? etc, etc, you see when you write a rule or law purely on “intent” its not enforceable or at least not fairly enforceable. I’m not sure how the school board managed to do it (with the long pants and tucked in shirts and all)but the need to pull their heads back out of their unexposed hind quarters an concentrate on something that will make a profound difference in the lives of our children (i.e. education) rather than attempting to make each and every child’s attire to be visually appealing to them.
Have a Nice Weekend,
-Father of Four short wearing, jacket wielding, tank top owning, hat tipping hoodlums (at least by the definition of the school board) who have consistently been on honor roll and have received many academic awards and certificate of perfect attendance, and enjoy the freedom to express themselves without ridiculous restrictions.
I guess HuffieVA thinks just because the little darlins performance is sub-par even to third world countries they should look third world? Heaven forbid anyone infringe on their limited or non-existant self-esteem.
They don’t know how to properly dress as their parents generation has few clues on how to be a parent.
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