• DRESS AND GROOMING                                                                       AR 5132(a)

     

    The Governing Board believes that the responsibility for the dress and grooming of a student rests primarily with the student and his or her parents or guardians and that appropriate dress and grooming contribute to a productive learning environment.

    Therefore, the Board expects students to give proper attention to personal cleanliness and to wear clothes that are suitable for the school activities in which they participate.

    School-directed changes to a student’s attire or grooming should be the least restrictive and disruptive to the student’s school day. Any school dress code enforcement actions should minimize the potential loss of educational time. Administration and enforcement of the dress code shall be gender neutral and consistent.

    This policy applies to all individual schools. Schools may not enact more restrictive or less restrictive dress and grooming codes.

    Minimum Safe Attire

    Student attire and grooming must permit the student to participate in learning without posing a risk to the health or safety of any student or school district personnel.

    1. Students must wear clothing including both a shirt with pants or skirt, or the equivalent (for example dresses, leggings, or shorts) and shoes.

     

    1. When the body is standing straight, clothing must cover the chest, back, torso, stomach, and lower extremities from armpit to armpit to mid-thigh. Tops must have a strap and at no time may any part of a student’s buttocks be exposed.

     

    1. Clothing must cover all undergarments. No underwear or undergarments may be visible at any time. Clothing may not be see through.

     

    1. Outside sports apparel and hats that are not directly related to the current school of attendance are prohibited.

     

    1. Clothing must be suitable for all scheduled classroom activities including physical education, science labs, shop classes, field trips and other activities where unique hazards or specialized attire or safety gear is Bare feet are not permitted at any time.

    Attire and/or grooming depicting or advocating violence, weapons, criminal activity, gang-related activity (including clothes, accessories, or colors identified by MPD as gang- affiliated), use of tobacco, alcohol or drugs, pornography, foul language, hate speech, or clothing that could be considered dangerous or that could be used as a weapon are prohibited.

    Dress Code Enforcement

    No list of dress and appearance guidelines for students can be written that will anticipate all potential dress and grooming extremes. In the case of questionable dress or grooming that is not specifically covered in the list above, the administration will make the final decision. Appropriate action will be taken at that time, and when necessary, contact will be made seeking parental cooperation and assistance.

    The administration retains the sole discretion to make the final determination whether clothing, jewelry, accessories and/or appearance meet acceptable standards. All school certificated and classified personnel shall be responsible for reporting violations of this dress code. When a dress code violation occurs, the student will be required to change into proper attire. Continued violations of the dress code will be considered defiance and will be referred to administration for disciplinary action.