Nutley Mom Asks For Uniforms

Dressed in a black halter top and blue short-shorts, high heels and manicured toenails, Nutley mom Sharon Bozza had a message for the Board of Education Monday night.

She wanted to know what they thought of her outfit.

Bozza is a mom of a child who attends Nutley schools and she wore the skimpy outfit on purpose - to encourage the board to reconsider school uniforms for all of the students.

"You have put school uniforms on the backburner," Bozza told the Board. "I wanted to give you a visual of what the public sees when kids are walking to and from school."

Board of Education officials said they have not yet seen evidence to suggest that parents, students and the community want to change the uniform dress code in any way.

Russell Lazovick, Superintendent of Schools, said Monday night that he spoke to Bozza "for an hour and a half," and that there is a difference between altering the school's dress code and requiring school uniforms.

"What you see is not necessarily what we see," Lazovick told Bozza. "We were not talking about uniforms. If students are dressing appropriately, then we feel we do not have a dress code issue."

Bozza said she disagreed.

"Everybody sitting up there says nothing, that you're putting a committee together," she said. "I wanted to give you the full impact of what I see."

The superintendent said there is little that the schools can do about how students dress when they leave school grounds and before they enter.

"I came from a district where we had uniforms," he said. "We have done student, community and parent studies."

After Board of Education President James Kuctha suggested that a more scientific study be conducted, Lazovick said, "We will try and do a better job of asking the community."

Bozza concluded her remarks by saying, " Please take this seriously on behalf of the parents, not just the Board."

About half of those in attendance at the meeting gave Bozza a round of applause.