- April 20, 2024
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Citing a desire to fix ambiguities, the Flagler County School Board on Tuesday approved changes to its uniform policy, which loosened some of the rules and clarified others.
The greatest change comes to shirt colors for high school students. Previously, students could only wear one of two colors, which were decided by which school they attended. But varying shades of the same color presented difficulty with enforcement.
Starting next year, students will be able to wear any color shirt, so long as it is still a button-up shirt and is still solid in color.
The new policy will buckle down on shirt material, however. This year, sheer and lace shirts, or shirts with small cutouts of such fabric, were allowed if the student wore a shirt of the same color underneath. Now, students will only be allowed to wear solid fabrics.
Students in eighth grade and younger must still follow the school colors model.
Also loosening is the policy on outerwear. Previously, students were not permitted to wear sweatshirts at school, but now, all outerwear will be allowed, so long as it is solid in color and “school appropriate.”
When the district implemented its new uniform policy last fall, the initial rule was that jackets were allowed but sweatshirts were not. But administrators had difficulty defining the difference between a “jacket” and a “sweatshirt.” Soon, staff said outerwear with lining was permitted in schools. However, some sweatshirts have fleece linings, causing ambiguity.
This change is expected to allow students to stay warm during the cold months while still maintaining the moderately homogenous look of the uniforms.
The School Board also considered requiring that students unbutton no more than the top two buttons of their shirts. Katrina Townsend, director of student services, said that there has been a problem in schools with shirts that were “open and flapping.”
But, fearing that this too could be an ambiguous policy, the board decided instead to mandate that button-up shirts cover all undergarments.
“And if there are no undergarments?” School Board member Andy Dance asked.
“Then that’s another thing to deal with,” Townsend answered. “Believe me, that’s come up before.”
The change came after Townsend pointed out that discipline referrals had more than tripled this academic year as compared to the last. Most of the referrals were related to school uniforms.
Tuesday’s workshop meeting was a preliminary discussion of potential changes. The School Board will continue to weigh potential changes to the uniform policy at a later date.
Other changes:
• Clothing worn on spirit days will be restricted to school-branded articles.
• Students are allowed to wear hats outside buildings, which is required by state statutes.
• Students are prohibited from wearing jewelry that hangs outside their clothing.
• The review committee is able to make uniform policy decisions on its own so it can address problems as they arise.
• Gray and white jeans and pants are allowed to eliminate ambiguity of light-colored khaki pants.
• Students must wear a belt if their clothing has visible belt loops, but that there is no color requirement for the belt.
