Carson High School Uniform Debate

Why am I opposed to school uniforms at Carson High School? It’s a lengthy answer and so I’ll try to condense it. We live in a small town, with limited selection to stores. We have Wal-Mart, Target, JCPenny, and Kohl’s. We have access, in Reno, to those listed plus several more, but only a fraction of the stores that you would have in a big city. My daughter has been in the current SSA “uniforms” at the middle school for the last 2 years. Additionally I have a buying background in the fashion industry for 8 years, so I have that perspective to my argument as well. As my husband and I also have a uniform shop here in Carson City, you would think we would be for uniforms as it potentially could be beneficial to our company, but we are not.
First, per the principal, we are told the ONLY REASON FOR CONSIDERING UNIFORMS NEXT YEAR IS FOR SAFETY. We have 52 points of entry in our High School and it is argued that it would allow people to know who should/should not be in the school. However, the very next sentence from the principal was that if we do not agree to uniforms, then there will be a major re-vamping to the dress code. So his second statement contradicts the “only” reason for uniforms. You can go with the “freedom of expression”, “individuality”, etc. arguments, but honestly those are so overused. With that said, these were some of my arguments at last Tuesday's meeting, which turned out to be the same as many others and brought some new light to things many did not consider, including to the school itself... I hope.
1) Our stores have an extremely limited selection on both the tops and bottoms required for satisfy the uniform code. In any give store, in the junior’s department, you have the choice of 1 or 2 pairs of black and 1 pair of Khaki pants (required colors). Our high school girls have womanly figures now, pear, apple and hourglass shaped, just like us adult women. Just because there is a pair of black pants, does not mean that they are going to fit that young lady. Trying to find a pair that fits properly is insanely difficult because the stores, even after 3 years of uniforms in our community, do not provide us with the selection to support the uniform requirements. Trying to boost our own economy, many of us are living on the premise of “BUY LOCAL”, but uniforms force us to buy in Reno, Sacramento or On-Line, which does nothing to boost our own economy.
2) Clothing Buyers for every market out there have already purchase their back-to-school & fall lines. Their “open-to-buy” (the amount of money they have to fill their needs for the season) has been spent and orders have been placed which are no longer able to be adjusted as production has started. Currently buyers are purchasing for Winter/Holiday/Cruise. This means that even with notifying them last night, there is no possible way for them to support an additional 3000 kids needing uniforms, their monies have already been spent. Additionally, because the students are not purchasing what the stores will have, it will cause massive markdowns - a loss of profit and a loss of jobs because of such. Many of the parents in this community work in those stores, which means many of the kids will have unemployed parents.
3) Safety? It is just as easy for an individual to come into the school with Khaki pants and a blue polo and blend in, if that is what they are hell bent on doing, they are going to do it regardless of a uniform code or not. My child is not safer wearing khaki pants over jeans, slacks or a skirt. We need to focus on securing about 48 of the access points to this building. Mandatory ID cards worn around the neck that is swiped upon entry and exit to the school? Closed campus? Silver State Charter High School uses finger prints for students to gain access to and from their school … why not Carson High? There are many proven ways to secure our children that would be a lot more effective in actually keeping them safe. The time and money that the school is taking to focus on a uniform code should be spent in researching and implementing proven methods of securing the building. Otherwise we are just putting a Band-Aid over an open would that actually needs stitches.
4) Cost: The percentage of children at the high-school that qualify for free/reduced lunches is 32%. Those same children will require the school and district to provide the uniforms for them at no cost. Let’s say the average cost to provide the required uniforms will be (purchased in bulk) about $150.00/kid. That comes out to approx. $150,000.00 to a district that already does not have enough money to support its needs. I think $150,000.00 is far better spent in securing 48 of the 52 access points to the school, which will help the security & safety, which is what this argument is really about … isn’t it?
5) Since we are all able to read between the lines and realize that this is not at all about security, but about dress code, it is just as easy to enforce a current or modified dress code with real consequences as it is a uniform code. I agree the current dress code need to be strengthened. It is vague & ambiguous. It is too open for interpretation and because of such; we have kids that look horrible. My understanding is that there has been some increase in enforcement of the current dress code with the threat of the “poop suit”. According to our daughter, she’s been informed that those that are in violation of the code must wear, for 3 day, brown sweat pants and brown sweatshirt/t-shirt. Even the 7th & 8th graders know about this and affectionately call it “the poop suit” due to its color. My daughter would not step one foot out of line if a dress code was enforced for fear of walking around the halls and classes for 3 days “looking like poop”. Again, it takes just as much effort to enforce a dress code as it does a uniform code. Let’s start enforcing what we have, with consequences that the kids don’t like, like the poop suit, rather than spending money the district does not have on something that will not fix the root problem.
6) Lastly, we are asking our kids from the age of 14 to pick between 4 different high school degrees. We are talking about careers, elective choices to help with career choices and collage, collage, collage. We are asking our 14 year olds and older to make what I consider adult decisions. We’re asking them to make choices on saying no to drugs, alcohol, gangs, promiscuous behavior …. all Major decisions! However, we are taking their rights away to learn how to dress like and adult and to make decisions to dress appropriately? How does this make sense? We are asking out kids to reach high, reach for the Fortune 500 companies, etc. None of those Fortune 500 companies have uniforms. Who has uniforms? McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Target … oh, and prisoners. I surely do not want my child striving for that!

At Tuesday’s meeting, there was a young man that had “lettered” in many sports and proudly wore his letterman’s jacket, nice shirt and nice jeans. He will not be able to wear it next year if there are uniforms. Another young man addressed the crowd and will in a full suit and tie. He’s on the debate team and he chooses to wear a suit and tie to school as an expression of whom he is and where he wants to go. Next year, he will be unable to wear a suit and tie to school. Cheerleaders who have to spend upwards of $400.00 on their uniforms will not be able to wear them to school for school spirit.

We were informed that there has been a committee set up at the high school to address uniforms next year. Based on what we were told, that no matter if 100% of the parents and kids of this community vote against uniforms, it will be the committee decision to vote for or against uniforms. They will only be taking what we say “under advisement”. While who makes up this committee is vague and not at all transparent, we were told the committee is opened to be joined and meets at the high school each Tuesday at 2:00 P.M. Come join the committee so that there is a fair/un-biased committee. The next parent/student/public meeting is set for next Wednesday (3/27/13) at the High School, 6:00 P.M. Get active and let your voices be heard. Kids, this affects you as well … come and be heard!

However you feel about uniforms, pro or against, my argument is that uniforms are going to do nothing to address the ONLY reason for uniforms at CHS, which is safety. By entertaining the idea of uniforms, it takes our focus off the real issue of safety in our school. And with 52 points of access … CHS is NOT a safe school. That should be our focus, not uniforms. We need to behave like adults on this subject, we are all entitled to our opinions. At the meeting there was some bashing back and forth. It's not necessary, but let's open up the dialogue on this subject at the meetings and try to resolve what seems to be two key issues: safety & dress code. Respectfully submitted.