Ian Latham, a Higley USD parent, uses an "object lesson" of his attire to show what he considers a new dress code policy would allow inappropriate attire. Latham took off a polo shirt he was wearing to demonstrate while making remarks to the governing board.
The Higley Unified School District Governing Board passed a new dress code policy Wednesday after three rounds of debate dating back to May.
The new policy updates one that had been in place more than 20 years. The primary change is from prohibiting attire that “immodestly exposes the chest, abdomen, midriff, genital area or buttocks” to a prohibition on attire that “exposes the wearer’s undergarments, or undergarment areas.”
The board voted 3-2 for the new policy with board members Michelle Anderson and Anna Van Hoek voting in dissent.
The board first discussed the topic in May at which point the proposal prohibited attire that “exposes the wearer’s midriff, undergarments, or undergarment areas.” But President Tiffany Shultz and Board Member Amanda Wade objected to language that would have a disproportionate impact upon girls and Board Member Kristina Reese expressed similar concerns plus worried about the burden of enforcement placed on teachers.
A subsequent discussion in August brought language that some members found too vague while Anderson and Van Hoek pushed for a more modest code that would prohibit exposure of the midriff.
Anderson, who extensively researched other codes for the August meeting, brought forth more research Wednesday, saying perhaps it could suggest language that would be acceptable to Reese.
“Neighboring school districts and top 100 school districts appreciate a modest dress (code),” Anderson said.
But Reese said she had been paying attention to what students were wearing when she visited the district’s high schools and junior highs and found no one was wearing anything that made her think a student needed to cover up, even with her own modest standards. They also did not have others looking at them.
“I didn’t see the issues I thought I was going to see,” she said.
In answer to a question from Shultz, interim Superintendent Sherry Richards said the administrators she informally surveyed were good with the proposed code.
“They said things like, ‘well, if we're going to let 'em wear hats, can we have specific training on what that means, or hoodies or whatever,’” she said. “So I think whatever is determined, it's our responsibility to make sure we all interpret things the same way.”
Six audience members spoke against the proposal and in favor of something with more modest standards. Van Hoek said she received many emails against the proposal, but Reese said she heard from people for and against it.
Reese added that if the board found that the new policy did create distractions or issues, they could change it back immediately.
The new policy also included new prohibitions against conveying affiliation with a criminal street gang and attire that is “inconsistent with or prohibited by the course, program or activity.”
It also adds new sections that offer protection for wearing religious attire or traditional Native “tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance (‘tribal objects’) at the student’s graduation ceremony.”
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X. We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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