Four schools OK’d for uniform policy

By Emily Richmond

Friday, June 18, 2004 | 9:24 a.m.

The Clark County School Board approved Thursday adding four Henderson elementary schools to a pilot study requiring students to wear uniforms.

Bennett, Harmon, Hummel and Glen Taylor elementary schools are slated to join five other Henderson elementary campuses in the study when the new academic year begins in August.

But the School Board's vote could be undone in just a week, when Vice President Larry Mason plans to ask that the word "mandatory" be removed from the regulation, which would essentially dissolve the pilot study. Mason was originally expected to raise the issue at Thursday's meeting but asked to have the agenda item put off to the June 24 meeting because he was delayed in Reno on business.

"I want to be there in person for this," Mason said prior to Thursday's meeting. "I don't want to have the discussion and debate on the telephone."

Mason said he isn't convinced strict dress codes have an effect on student achievement and is also uncomfortable with a public school district making uniforms mandatory.

Clark County School Board member Sheila Moulton said she realized the next meeting could mean a change in the pilot study's status.

"However, the policy is there and until that changes we ought to follow that," Moulton said.

The schools already participating in the pilot study credit uniforms with improving student achievement and the overall campus atmosphere. Opponents of school uniforms say there is no evidence of a clear connection.

The School Board voted 6-0 in favor of expanding the pilot study after hearing more than 90 minutes of public comment. Dozens of parents, principals and students spoke both in favor and in opposition of the uniform policy.

Denise Murray, principal of Sewell Elementary School, said her campus failed to meet the federal and state requirements on standardized tests in 2002 with students with limited English skills and those from low-income families faring the worst. This year, after the implementation of a voluntary uniform policy, the school met all of the requirements, Murray said.

"The uniforms were an integral factor," Murray told the School Board. "I am not prepared to take away a piece of the puzzle that made this happen."

But Gregory Wright, who attends Taylor Elementary School which also has a voluntary uniform policy, said he was opposed to making it mandatory.

"It violates our rights as kids," Gregory said. "Everyone looks the same and no one is unique. Uniforms make us look like little army men."

Some Taylor parents questioned whether their school's survey was valid as it didn't use the word "mandatory" when asking families if they would support a uniform policy. The district's regulations require that the survey "pose the sole question as to whether the parent would support the school adopting a mandatory uniform policy."