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| Posted: 23 Sep 2019 07:05 AM PDT CLOSE  Several girls from Eastern High School were turned away from their homecoming dance after being told their dresses were too short. Provided to The Courier Journal, Louisville Courier Journal Carrie Vittitoe sent her daughter off Saturday, periwinkle dress in hand, to get ready with a group of girlfriends before Eastern High School's homecoming dance. She expected her daughter would spend the night dancing with friends. Instead, the teen left in tears. The 15-year-old was among dozens of girls who say they were grilled by school staff who suspected their dresses were too short. Before being allowed inside, the staff used rulers to measure each girl's hem to see how high it was above her knees, the teen said. "It just made me feel awful about myself," Vittitoe's daughter, an Eastern sophomore, told The Courier Journal. "Like I wasn't acceptable." Many students were denied entry, she said. By Sunday, parents took to social media to complain about the students' treatment. The uproar has raised bigger questions about dress code policies within Jefferson County Public Schools schools, with some parents and students complaining that schools are treating girls unfairly. Each school sets its own policy, which can vary widely. What is the dress code at JCPS?: Here's a look at several schools' policy Vittitoe, who asked that her daughter's name not be published, called Eastern's policy a "sexism issue." "It just made her feel more insecure about things she already feels insecure," said Vittitoe, adding that it can be difficult for her daughter to find clothing in the junior's section to fit her slender, 5-foot, 8-inch frame. Also: Jefferson County judge delays release of JCPS' PTA spending records JCPS vows to examine dress code policiesJCPS spokeswoman Renee Murphy said on Monday that "school leaders at Eastern will be reviewing the dress code, the communication, and the processes for coming into dances." "Student representatives and parent representatives will review the dress code as well, along with a teacher group, and administrators will work with their (school-based decision-making council) to consider suggestions for improvement," Murphy said. JCPS board member James Craig, who represents the district serving Eastern, said he heard from several parents about the incident and the school will address their concerns. The school "will be reaching out to students, parents and teachers to ensure that everyone's voice is heard," he said. "There won't be another dance until the spring, and the school will have plenty of time to complete that process before something like this happens again." A letter to parents from Eastern High Principal Lana Kaelin included in a Sept. 20 school newsletter listed a dress code for the homecoming dance. Among the rules: Dresses must be no more than 2 inches above the top of the knee. Students who violated the dress code would be denied entry and would not receive a refund for their tickets, the letter said. Vittitoe, who wrote about the incident on her blog, said the school put forth unrealistic expectations. "I'm not sure EHS staff understands that parents purchase the dresses that are available to purchase in stores," Vittitoe wrote. "I don't know a single mother who wouldn't love to find the 'Hit at the Kneecap' dress shop, but this shop doesn't exist." Vittitoe said she drove to the high school about 8 p.m. Saturday after receiving texts from her daughter about what was happening. When she got there, a mass of teens stood outside the building. Two police cruisers were also in the parking lot, she said. One officer told the teens they had to leave school property immediately or else be considered trespassing, Vittitoe said. Though some teens had driven themselves there, many had no transportation, she said. At that point, Vittitoe said, it "went from being a dress code to being a safety issue." "I didn't want to leave kids unsupervised in the dark," she said. Kentucky's eagle population is soaring: Here's what that means and why you should care Vittitoe said she and another parent told the students to stand on the sidewalk in front of the school to wait for their rides. Vittitoe said she contacted Craig and JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio on Sunday to voice her frustration. "Things came to a head (Saturday) night, but this has been an issue for some time," she said, adding that she believes Eastern's dress code is more strict than other JCPS schools. How JCPS dress codes compareDress codes for regular school days vary across the district's high schools, according to a Courier Journal review of policies available online. Some policies appear to be especially restrictive when it comes to female students.
Vittitoe said her daughter deals with Eastern's strict dress code by always wearing jeans. When it comes to formal events, Vittitoe said she worries about families who don't have the financial means to pay for dresses in line with Eastern's standards. The school's letter sent to families, for example, included pictures of three acceptable dresses. Each was a full-length gown. Dress code enforced inconsistentlyThe homecoming dance was a fundraiser for Eastern's sophomore class. On Sunday, sophomore class officers created an online petition asking for a "redo" of the dance. Eastern parent Stephen Carnes shared with The Courier Journal a photo of his daughter and her friend wearing identical dresses. Carnes said his daughter was denied entry. Her friend was allowed in. "Zero consistency," Carnes said. Lori Chitwood told The Courier Journal a similar story. She was in Eastern's parking lot when she said she saw girls leaving the dance. "I have two daughters who attend Eastern," Chitwood said in an email to The Courier Journal. "One was admitted, and one was not. It actually ruined my oldest daughter's homecoming." Chitwood said her older daughter is a senior with Down syndrome. Although she was allowed in, other girls in her group were not. "So, the young man came out with her because the other young ladies were not allowed into the dance," Chitwood wrote. "Then my other daughter was denied entry, and I was beyond frustrated! They made her shrug her shoulders and bend her knee (to lower the dress hem). It was ridiculous!" Vittitoe said she would support a district-wide dress code for dances, so all students are treated the same. "From making girls feel like there's something wrong with their bodies," she said, "to how this affects families that can't afford to go out and spend loads of money on fancy outfits, this impacted kids." Mandy McLaren: 502-582-4525; mmclaren@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @mandy_mclaren. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/mandym. Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2019/09/23/girls-turned-away-due-dress-length-at-eastern-high-school-homecoming-dance-2019/2417020001/  |
| Posted: 05 Sep 2019 12:00 AM PDT  In a new report released Wednesday, the National Women's Law Center highlighted some of these recent shifts and rated D.C. public and charter high schools based on the strictness of their dress code policies. The researchers found that, among 29 D.C. schools, majority-black high schools on average had more dress code restrictions than other high schools. And charter schools in the District, on average, had more than twice the number of dress code restrictions than traditional public schools in the 2018-2019 school year. "Especially in this Me Too movement that we're in, schools shouldn't be teaching students that it's okay to scrutinize girls' bodies ... or make them feel like they have to cover up or feel less than," said Nia Evans, author and lead researcher of the report. "Schools are literally showing students how to police and judge and shame girls' bodies, and that's wrong." The study included a report card that rated each school based on whether its policies included one of 12 types of restrictions, such as requiring a uniform; restricting tank tops, width of sleeves or tightness of clothing; requiring a certain length for skirts or shorts; or banning tights, leggings, or certain hats or head wraps. Twelve schools received a grade of F for having five or more dress code restrictions. Seven of the 29 schools had dress code policies with eight or more dress code restrictions. Each one of those was a charter school. Additionally, six schools did not make their dress code policies available, according to the report. While some policies made clear they intended to remain gender-neutral, many of the dress codes focused on clothes usually worn by girls. "Crop tops, tube tops, halters and spaghetti straps are unacceptable (anything less than 2 inches is considered a spaghetti strap.) Strapless dresses without jackets are unacceptable," states the dress code from the Theodore Roosevelt High School Student Handbook. "The display of cleavage is unacceptable. Low cut blouses, tops, sweaters, etc. with plunging necklines are not allowed." More than half of D.C. public and charter high schools outlined certain punishments for dress code violations, such as detention or a call to a parent. Many previously included suspensions as consequences, but beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, public schools in the District will be prohibited from issuing out-of-school suspensions for dress code violations. The D.C. Council recently passed the Student Fair Access to School Act, which prohibits out-of-school suspensions for minor infractions, including dress code violations. The report released Wednesday follows up on a similar NWLC report, released last year, on D.C. school dress codes. In a statement Wednesday, a D.C. Public Schools spokesman said officials have facilitated feedback sessions with teachers, students and staff across the district to review the earlier NWLC report and offer recommendations to improve schools' existing dress code policies. The district has also worked directly with schools to learn more about their dress code policies, how they are implemented, what they are doing to support students who are impacted by the dress code policy, and providing support where it is needed, according to the statement. "Our goal is always to provide safe and welcoming learning environments for all students, especially our young women and students of color," the statement read. "DCPS has been proactive in addressing the needs of our students and we also have clear systems in place for students, families, and staff members to report any incidents in which they have felt treated unfairly." A spokeswoman for the D.C. Public Charter School Board said each public charter school has the flexibility and responsibility to set its own dress code policies for its students as long as policies follow the Student Fair Access to School Act. "Some require uniforms, while others set specific standards for all genders," the statement read. Nearly 80 percent of the D.C. high schools reviewed in the report required uniforms. And across the country, school uniforms are on the rise. More than 40 percent of the nation's public schools and preschools now use uniforms, according to government data. Proponents of uniforms say they provide students with a sense of belonging, help maintain school decorum and are a convenient and cost-saving option for parents. Some studies show that students who wear uniforms perform better academically. But critics, including some parents, say they limit individuality and self-expression. Many schools that require uniforms still impose restrictions on skirt lengths and other details. When school policies enforce restrictions on clothing perceived as too tight or low-cut, the report's authors write, girls who are curvier or more developed often end up being punished for their body types. And across the country, black girls are five times as likely as white girls to be suspended in schools. Adaku Onyeka-Crawford, director of educational equity and senior counsel at the National Women's Law Center, said such dress code violations disrupt students' learning and level of comfort in schools. "If you're constantly being scrutinized or concerned just because of how you look, that will affect how you learn in the classroom and it will affect whether or not you want to be there," she said. Many restrictive dress codes, Onyeka-Crawford added, are "promoting a standard of professionalism that is actually just a standard of whiteness," particularly when it comes to hairstyles. Calls for changes to dress codes in schools also parallel efforts to change dress codes in workplaces, Onyeka-Crawford said. For example, California recently became the first state to explicitly ban discrimination based on natural hair in the workplace and in K-12 schools. And in schools across the District in the past year, students have been calling on their administrators to take similar measures. In September of last year, students at Duke Ellington School of the Arts noticed that school administrators were singling out students for wearing head wraps, even though the school's policies don't prohibit them. In response, students planned a "head wrap clapback" protest, in which students wore head wraps, bonnets or durags to school, according to the NWLC report. Students at School Without Walls High School in the District organized lunchtime protests to call attention to what they saw as uneven enforcement of their school's dress code. In 2017, school officials formed a dress code committee, but the committee's recommendations were not adopted, the report said. After student protests, the school's administrators worked with a dress code task force to adopt a revised policy, the NWLC report stated. "There's less room for teacher discretion in enforcing the dress code or through discrimination based on body shape or body size," Samantha O'Sullivan, 18, a graduate from School Without Walls High School, was quoted as saying in the report. For a final project for a design class last year, Keontria Wainwright, a 17-year-old student from Capital City Public Charter School, produced a documentary about how dress codes were affecting girls in her school. She has also called for more relaxed dress codes as a member of her student council, she said in an interview with The Washington Post. Wainwright recalled how bothered she felt seeing a teacher ask a classmate to take off her head wrap in a class. Wainwright said she herself has long legs and struggles to find dresses that meet the length required by her school's dress code. One time, Wainwright recounted, a teacher saw her in the hallway and questioned the length of a dress she was wearing. "Are you sure that it's three inches above the knee?" the teacher asked. Wainwright spent the rest of the day pulling her dress down, covering her legs with a sweater and feeling uneasy about how she looked. "It makes us second-guess ourselves," Wainwright said. "We can't be free and wear what we want."  |
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