Liberty students return to dress code

Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 | 9:27 a.m.

For Liberty High School Principal Emilio Fernandez, this morning was "just like old times," as wave after wave of students clad in khaki pants and red, white and blue shirts rolled onto the Bermuda Road campus.

It appeared that about 90 percent of the students were complying with Liberty's "standard school attire" policy despite a School Board vote Thursday that prohibited schools from punishing students who did not follow the stricter dress code. That percentage was a reversal from last week, when news of a Liberty student's federal court victory over the uniform requirement sent schoolmates scrambling for tie-dyed shirts and blue jeans.

"Students were feeling peer pressure not to wear the dress code because suddenly it wasn't cool," Fernandez said. "Everyone was worrying about their clothes -- it was the exact kind of environment we were trying to avoid when we came up with the policy in the first place."

Students say they were told by teachers Friday to return to wearing campus attire today. Fernandez said no formal announcement was made and a letter will go home to parents after administrators and district officials meet this week.

Fernandez acknowledged this morning that he has no authority to punish students who do not follow the dress code.

"Everything's on hold," Fernandez said. "There will be no discipline of students who do not wear the dress code. We won't even ask them why they are not or suggest that they do."

The Clark County School Board voted Thursday to revise its dress code regulation, requiring principals to demonstrate parental support before establishing policies that are more strict than the districtwide rules. The revision comes after a federal court judge ruled a Liberty student had been wrongfully expelled for refusing to swap her religious-themed T-shirts for the approved campus attire.

The suit, filed by the Nevada ACLU on behalf of Liberty junior Kim Jacobs, is expected to make its way to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

With the ink barely dry on the new regulation, there appeared to be confusion amongst students and parents as to how the rules had changed and when those changes took effect.

Several Liberty students said this morning they had been told by teachers Friday that the dress code policy was still in place and must be followed. Others said they were told the policy was voluntary and that jeans would be allowed for a "dress down" day once a week.

Tenth grader Kyle Asintin, dressed in khakis and a white shirt, said he heard Friday that not only was the original dress code still in place but so was the potential for punishment.

"If we're not wearing it, we'll get in trouble," Asintin said.

Madison Jones, a junior at Liberty, said she wore the school's uniform today because she heard rumors over the weekend that it was still being enforced.

"I'm just going by what my friends said. No one's really told us anything definite yet," Jones said. "I don't really care one way or another. It's not a big deal to wear this. I think more about my grades than my clothes."

Tommy Sanders, whose daughter is a senior at Liberty, said he was frustrated that the school's policy could be unraveled because of one student's lawsuit.

"If she (Jacobs) doesn't like it, she should get a zoning variance and go someplace else," Sanders said. The dress code eliminates competition between students and puts everyone on the same level, Sanders said.

"If there's no dress code, there's going to be a show every day because kids are going to try and outdo each other," Sanders said. "There's going to be jealousy and hard feelings because some people can't afford the fancy outfits."

Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction, said the principals of the 17 schools that did not survey parents before enacting mandatory "standard school attire" and "Dress for Success" policies -- including Liberty -- have been told not to punish students.

"There isn't going to be any misunderstanding about this," Orci said. "There will be no enforcement of 'Dress for Success' or 'standard student attire' at this time."

Karlene McCormick-Lee, associate superintendent of research and accountability, said she and Orci would meet with principals Tuesday to discuss a timeline and walk them through the survey process.

The first step, McCormick-Lee said, is for schools to create advisory committees that include students and parents in order to determine what styles and colors of clothing they prefer. Once that takes place the district's cenral office will create survey forms that include arguments for and against uniform policies.

"We will have conversations with the principals to ensure they abide by what the School Board said it wants to see happen in terms of community involvement," McCormick-Lee said.

The estimated cost of conducting the survey is $250 for every thousand letters that must be sent, she said. It hasn't been determined whether the cost of the surveys will be shared by individual schools or paid for from the district's general fund. The entire process is expected to take six weeks.

It's likely that the potential cost of the surveys dropped when the School Board decided to abandon proposals calling for as high a return rate as 70 percent of the school's families.

"We may not have met the higher percentage with a single mailing and may have had to send out follow-ups or make phone calls," McCormick-Lee said. "Instead all we have to do is generate a single sheet, send it out once, count the returns and report the results."

The threshold set for determining community support is insufficient, said Lona Finley, a parent who has opposed school uniforms. She pointed out that in order to change a regulation the School Board needs a quorum -- affirmative votes from four of the seven members.

"If one trustee is home sick and two more are out of town and one didn't feel like showing up for the meeting, the other three don't get to change the rules for everyone else," Finley said. "Parents deserve the same level of fairness."