DRESS AND GROOMING (Approved 8/2/2022)
Research has indicated that student behavior is influenced by student dress and grooming. Therefore, student grooming shall be monitored by school administrators and teachers. In order to help promote acceptable student behavior, it is necessary to establish certain guidelines to aid parents and students in selecting the proper attire for school wear.
School staff recognizes that parents bear the primary responsibility for setting standards for their children’s dress and grooming. However, because of health and safety factors, because of the influence of dress and grooming on students’ attitude and behavior, and because of the need to prevent disruptive influences and preserve the academic environment of the school, student dress and grooming are appropriate concerns of teachers and administrators.
Regulations shall be established concerning the grooming of students for those classes where safety due to the use of power machinery and sanitary conditions in food preparation is mandatory. Students enrolled in these classes shall be informed of those regulations and are expected to conform while in these classes. The campus administration, after consulting with the School Advisory Team and considering school/community needs, may have additional dress or grooming regulations that are campus specific.
To aid students and their parents in making decisions about appropriate dress and grooming for schools, the following guidelines are established.
Final determination of acceptable dress and grooming rests with the principal or his/her designee.
- Shorts of mid-thigh length may be worn at all school levels. Suggestive and/or indecent shorts will be prohibited.
- Mid-thigh length skirts, skorts, and dresses may be worn at all levels. There should not be a cut or slit in the clothing that extends above the mid-thigh. Suggestive and/or indecent styles will be prohibited. These requirements also apply to school uniforms.
- Appropriate footwear must be worn; footwear which has toes reinforced with steel, hard plastics or similar materials are specifically prohibited.
- Hair must be neat and clean. Unconventional hair styles that distract from teaching and learning will be prohibited.
- Any clothes that are suggestive or indecent or which cause a distraction will be prohibited. Specifically, oversized clothing, tank tops, muscle shirts, halter/crop tops, spaghetti straps, exposed backs or midriffs, and see-through garments are prohibited.
- Indecent/inappropriate patches, writings, or drawings on clothing are prohibited. Undergarments must not be visible.
- All pants are to be worn at the waist (no “sagging”) Tight fitting pants (e.g. tights, spandex, bicycle pants, etc.) are also prohibited. Frays or holes above the knees are prohibited.
- Body piercing jewelry is prohibited except for rings, studs or other traditional jewelry. Any piercing that distracts the teaching and learning environment will be prohibited.
Because fads in dress and grooming are subject to sudden, and sometimes radical change, a basic rule to remember is that student dress and grooming should not be suggestive or indecent, or so bizarre and unusual as to detract from the classroom environment.
If the board determines that requiring school uniforms would improve the learning environment at a school in the District, the board may adopt rules that require students at that school to wear school uniforms. Students shall wear uniforms beginning on the 90th day after the date on which the board adopts the rules. For the current school year, mandatory uniforms are to be worn on the Adams Hill, Cable, Esparza, John Glenn, Passmore, Valley Hi, Anson Jones, Pat Neff, Sam Rayburn, Sul Ross and Rudder campuses. Information regarding these uniforms can be found in Section A of this handbook. Parents may contact the administration offices at these schools for specific information on standardized dress requirements.
The rules adopted by the board must designate a source of funding to be used to provide uniforms for economically
disadvantaged students.
A parent or guardian of a student assigned to a school where uniforms are required may choose for the student to be exempted from the uniform requirement or for the student to be transferred to a school where uniforms are not required and at which space is available. In order to exercise one of these options, the parent or guardian must provide a written statement that states a religious or philosophical objection to the uniform requirement that the board determines is bona fide. Students who attend campuses requiring uniforms should follow their specific campus standardized dress code. NOTE: Refer to page C-6 on “Gang Prohibitions” for further prohibitions regarding dress.
