Dressing down the dress code

Deirdre Newman

School board trustee Wendy Leece is fed up with what she sees as

students’ persistent flouting of the dress code and is inviting the

community to let the full board know how they feel about it on

Monday.

Leece says she will welcome community comments during the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District board’s study session, which

also will include discussing refinements to the district’s

zero-tolerance policy -- which spells out misconduct that is eligible

for suspension or expulsion.

The district has a dress code that prohibits spaghetti straps,

low-cut tops and specifies how wide baggy pants may be.

But Leece says it’s not being taken seriously.

“We really have to come up with some creative consequences for

those who break the dress code,” Leece said. “For now, it’s just a

joke.”

Leece was inspired to bring the dress-code issue to the board for

review after three Newport Harbor High School students successfully

crusaded against logos they believed represent fascism and Nazism,

causing one local company to pull its logo. She said the board may

also discuss teachers’ attire because she has heard comments in the

past that a dress-code policy should be set for teachers as well.

Leece has campaigned against the district’s zero-tolerance policy

before, last when board members added bullying to the rules, arguing

that it infringed on students’ freedom of speech. She also has fought

to have the Ten Commandments placed in classrooms.

Although the study session is more of an informal get-together and

no final decisions will be made, Leece said the community’s input is

valuable nonetheless.

“We’ll be happy to listen to some fresh ideas,” Leece said. “I

think if kids aren’t dressing properly, it does interfere with the

educational process and decorum in the classroom.”

While Leece often is alone on issues, in this case trustee David

Brooks echoed her concern.

I’m sure that there are things that need to be done [with the

policy],” Brooks said. “First and foremost, we want our students to

be able to be in an environment they can learn in.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.