Collier County, Fl - Golden Gate High School
“For
some people it takes an hour. Like me,” the 16-year-old said with
a laugh. “When you come to school, you should be there to learn.
You are not there to party and the dress code shouldn’t matter.”
Next year, the Golden Gate High School sophomore may not have to worry about what to wear when she goes to school, because the Golden Gate High School Advisory Council has approved instituting a professional dress code for students for the 2007-08 school year.
Under the policy, students would be required to wear collared or polo shirts that must be tucked in. The shirts will be in a solid color of white, gray, green, pink or khaki, according to Principal Bob Spano.
Students are allowed to wear long pants, walking shorts, skirts or dresses in black, khaki or denim fabric. Belts will be required, Spano said.
The Collier County School District has 14 schools that have uniforms: Avalon, Calusa Park, Corkscrew, Estates, Golden Gate, Golden Terrace, Lely, Manatee and Sabal Palm elementary schools, and East Naples, Golden Gate, Immokalee, Manatee and Pine Ridge middle schools.
Golden Gate High School would be the first high school in the county to have something similar to a uniform policy.
“I was not in favor of a uniform three years ago. But the dress code is about school improvement,” Spano said. “We will be able to focus more on academics than on fashion. It will also help us easily identify a stranger.”
Spano said hooded sweatshirts will be banned from the school, in part because of what happened in a Colorado school in September.
“We want to provide a safe and secure environment, and the dress code is another way to do that,” Spano said.
Spano said in a student survey, students voted about 60 percent against and 40 percent in favor of a uniform policy last year. This year, students voted 74 percent against and 26 percent in favor of the policy.
“Some of them feel they will have no freedom if the school tells them what to wear,” he said. “It’s going to get us ready for the real world.”
J.D. said students won’t be able to make fun of students for what they wear.
Spano said Golden Gate Middle School, which also has uniforms, has seen a 52 percent decrease in office referrals for dress code violations between the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years. Spano said that can be attributed to the uniforms.
“These students are the leadership and students will follow the leaders,” he said. “This is more about the best educational environment for the students and student safety.”