Tweaks to Williamson County Schools Dress Code Continue

FRANKLIN, TN — Revisions to the Williamson County Schools dress code continued Monday, as Superintendent Mike Looney presented a simplified tank-top strap width requirement and a possible answer to the cleavage question.

While Looney's initial proposal set different strap width requirements for different grades — one inch wide for K-5 students and two inches for 6-12 — the revision he presented Monday to a meeting of the school board's policy committee would set a standard one-inch width across all grade levels.

The board has engaged in a particularly heavy discussion about what to do about cleavage. Initially, Looney's proposed revisions called for a prohibition on clothing that accentuated "the breasts, buttocks or genitalia," which was later changed to allowing leggings or jeggings provided a top covered the buttocks and genital area, but removed any mention of the breasts.

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This prompted a statement by board member Beth Burgos, a doctor, who said that science proved that males lose focus when put in proximity to decolletage.

Looney's latest proposal requires covering of skin and undergarments from the underarm to mid-thigh.

A third change — part of the superintendent's effort to eliminate "the silliness of having to measure kids," according to The Tennessean — sets the short and skirt length requirement to mid-thigh rather than six inches above the knee.

The full board is set to review the latest revisions at a Thursday work session. Looney has set a goal to implement the dress code changes — the first major revision of the code in 14 years — for the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.

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