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Universal Dress Code

Students and their parent/guardians hold the primary responsibility in determining the student’s personal attire, hairstyle, jewelry, and personal items (e.g. backpacks, book bags). Schools, in partnership with parents/guardians, are responsible for assuring that student attire, hairstyle, jewelry, and personal items do not interfere with the health or safety of any student and do not contribute to a hostile or intimidating environment for any student.

Core Values

In relation to student dress, the district’s core values are the following:

  • Students should be able to dress and style their hair for school in a manner that expresses their individuality without fear of unnecessary discipline or criticism for their physical appearance.
  • Students have the right to be treated equitably.
  • Students and staff are responsible for managing their own personal distractions related to the dress and physical appearance of others.

Universal Guiding Principles

Students must wear:

  • Opaque top (shirt, blouse, sweater, sweatshirt, tank, etc.).
  • Opaque bottom (pants, shorts, skirt, dress, etc.) that fully covers the rear.
  • Clothing that covers undergarments or bathing suits of similar design. For purposes of clarity, “undergarments” includes bras, sports bras, underwear, boxers, lingerie, or bathing suits of similar design (waistbands and bra straps excluded).
  • Footwear (elementary students need to wear footwear that is safe for recess and PE).

This dress code permits additional student attire requirements when necessary to ensure safety in certain academic settings (e.g., recess, physical activity, science or CTE courses).  Additionally, these guiding principles allow for reasonable variation in required student attire for participation in specific activities (e.g., swimming or gymnastics). 

The following dress (“dress” includes clothing/jewelry/costumes/tattoos or other ornaments/images worn on the body) creates an unsafe, unhealthy, or disruptive learning environment and is prohibited:

  • Dress that promotes drugs, alcohol, tobacco, violence, pornography, exclusive messaging, gang association/affiliation, or displays inappropriate pictures or writing.
  • Dress that demonstrates hate group association/affiliation or exhibits hate speech/imagery targeting groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or other protected groups.
  • Dress that covers the student’s face to the extent that the student is not identifiable (except clothing/headgear worn for a religious or medical purpose or masks worn to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or other communicable diseases).
  • Strong-smelling scented products cannot be applied at school or on school transportation, to protect those with allergies.
  • Jewelry that poses a safety hazard.

Exceptions to this dress code will be made for attire worn in observance of a student’s religion.

Enforcement of Universal Dress Code

Typical consequences for a violation of this policy include parent/guardian contact or conference and the directive to cover, change, or remove the non-complying attire. A student may be instructed to leave their classroom briefly to change clothes.