Legal Clips, [October 2006]
Grossmont High School (GHS) in El Cajon, California has suspended enforcement of a controversial new rule prohibiting clothes with large logos while the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) board gets a legal opinion. Principal Theresa Kemper says the ban on logos more than two inches high makes the school safer and helps students focus on their studies. Several students and a least a few parents disagreed and voiced their concerns to the school board. The board was considering whether to approve the rule, although high school officials have been enforcing the policy since the beginning of the school year. GHS, along with other schools in the district, adopted a new dress code last year in response to a student committee recommendation. Ms. Kemper says some students wore T-shirts with graphics that had messages promoting drugs, alcohol, or gangs. "It became very difficult to discern what was OK or not OK," she says. Part of the code includes a "Dress for Success" wardrobe that requires solid-colored pants and collared shirts. Students can opt out of "Dress for Success" if their parents give written permission. About 20% percent of GHS’s 2,450 students have opted out. Students violating the policy are required to change into a school T-shirt. Repeat offenders may receive detention or be banned from sporting events and dances. Jeff Walker, a senior at GHS, and his father, David Walker, oppose the policy. "Instead of doing the work and saying, 'You can wear this, you can't wear that,' they just say you can't wear anything," says Jeff. "In a way, it's laziness on their part." His father contends the dress code interferes with his discretion as a parent. "I understand what they're trying to do," says Mr. Walker. "But in order to get rid of the gang clothes or the baggy pants, their blanket rule has been overly restrictive. It covers almost anything a normal person would wear to school." Superintendent Terry Ryan believes the dress code helps make the campus safer because it's easier to identify outsiders, but he wanted lawyers to see if the policy raises issues of freedom of speech or other concerns
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San Diego Union-Tribune
By Anne Krueger & Leonel Sanchez
[Link to full story]
San Diego Union-Tribune
By Anne Krueger
[Link to full story]