Dress Code for Cleveland Schools Approved

Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Topics: Education
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The Cleveland Board of Education has made it official: the Cleveland Public Schools are moving to a district wide uniform and dress code policy. The Board approved the new policy last night at the request of school system CEO, Eugene Sanders. ideastream's Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports.

Starting this fall, kindergarten though 8th grade students in the Cleveland School district will be required to wear uniforms of khaki, blue, white or black. Boys will be in slacks and girls in knee-length skirts. No uniforms for Cleveland’s High Schools but a stricter dress code is on the way. It bans students from wearing jeans, cargo pants, shirts with writing on them and anything with labels or hoods.

School officials have high hopes that the strict clothing rules will improve student behavior. Assistant Superintendent of Schools Robert McKennie says that’s what has happened at other large urban districts, including Long Beach California Public Schools.

Robert McKennie: It decreased a lot of infractions in terms of discipline suspension, sexually-related infractions they had in the district.

McKennie says students unable to afford the new uniforms are eligible for financial assistance from the district. Officials say at some point in the future uniforms at the high school level could be phased in as well. Lisa Ann Pinkerton, 90.3.