Dress Code OK'd for Horrall Elementary

The San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees last night voted to approve imposing a dress code at in San Mateo, but opted not to implement it on a district-wide basis.

The board voted 3-2 in favor of implementing a common dress policy at Horrall, with Board President Mark Hudak and trustee Ellen Mallory Ulrich dissenting.

Hudak has stated repeatedly that he is against dress codes at public schools because he believes it is not the place of government to tell people what to wear. But he proposed that each of the 20 district schools should have a dress code if the suggested benefits of a uniform dress policy are as great as proponents believe.

As in the district request to have dress codes implemented at their schools, Hudak suggested that in the interest of equity, the board should consider implementing a .

Advocates for dress codes believe that students at schools with a common dress policy are able to focus more on their school work rather than on the difference in one another's clothes, which they say can reduce bullying as well as keep kids from focusing on social class inequity.

Horall is the second district school to impose a dress code this year, and is the fourth in the district to have a common dress policy. (Click on the pdf to see a sampling of the clothes allowed by the new policy.)

Hudak said the district schools that have dress codes are in lower socioeconomic areas of the district, and that no schools in the wealthier areas are requesting to impose a dress code.

"It's about status, and it sends the wrong message," said Hudak.

He said he worried about the precedent the school board is setting by imposing dress codes at the schools located in the less wealthy areas of the district.

"If there are true academic and safety benefits, we can impose this on all schools and all students because we believe these are real benefits," said Hudak.

But trustee Julie Chan disagreed in regards to imposing the policy to the entire district, at this point. She said that since there was an overwhelming support from the Horrall community to implement the dress code, it should be approved. More than 80 percent of parents of students at Horrall Elementary support imposing a dress code, according to a district report.

Chan said more research should be done on the entire district community before implementing a comprehensive common dress policy.

"As a board member that comes from higher-end schools, I don't have a problem with the policy, if that's what the community supports," said Chan.

Horrall Elementary Principal John Dean said he believed the school will benefit from the dress code because it will drive students to take their work more seriously.

"We want to send the message that dressing up for school is like dressing up for work," said Dean.

He also said that since Horrall is an art school, imposing a dress code may allow children to feel more free to take risks expressing themselves through their school work, rather than through their clothing choice.

But Ulrich, who voted against the dress code, has said in the past that she believes uniform dress stifles the freedom of expression of students, who should have the right to choose what they wear to school.

She has suggested that should schools impose a dress code, that it be optional for students who do not want to participate. But that proposal was shot down by board members.

Chan voted with fellow trustees Lory Lorimer Lawson and Colleen Sullivan in favor of the dress code at Horrall.

In other business, the board recognized retiring Superintendent Pendery Clark for her service to the district. Clark, who has been the district's superintendent for 10 years, will be leaving at the end of the school year.

Hudak said the district is planning to introduce her replacement at the next board meeting June 16.