It is the policy of the Southwestern Central School Board of Education that the student and their parent/guardian hold the primary responsibility in determining the student’s personal attire, hairstyle, jewelry, and personal items (e.g., backpacks, book bags). Schools are responsible for assuring the student attire, hairstyle, jewelry, and personal items do not interfere with the health or safety of any student and do not contribute to a hostile or intimidating environment for any student.

District Core Values

In relation to student dress, the district’s core values are the following:

• Students should be able to dress and style their hair for school in a manner that expresses their individuality without fear of unnecessary discipline or body shaming.
• Students have the right to be treated equitably. Dress code enforcement will not create disparities, reinforce, or increase marginalization of any group, nor will it be more strictly enforced against students because of racial identity, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, cultural or religious identity, household income, body size/type, or body maturity.
• Students and staff are responsible for managing their personal distractions.
• Students should not face unnecessary barriers to school attendance.

Universal Dress Code

Students must wear:

• Top (shirt, blouse, sweater, sweatshirt, tank, etc.).
• Bottom (pants, shorts, skirt, dress, etc.); and
• Footwear.

This policy permits additional student attire requirements when necessary to ensure safety in certain academic settings (e.g., physical activity, science or CTE courses). Additionally, this policy allows for reasonable variation in required student attire for participation in certain activities.

Students may not wear clothing, jewelry, or personal items that:

• Are pornographic, contain threats, or that promote illegal or violent conduct such as the unlawful use of weapons, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or drug paraphernalia.
• Illustrate hate group association/affiliation and/or use hate speech targeting groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or other protected groups.
• Intentionally show private parts. Clothing must cover private parts in opaque (not able to be seen- through) material.
• Cover the student’s face to the extent that the student is not identifiable except clothing/headgear worn for an ethnic, religious, or medical purpose.
• Include hats, visors, or hoods during the school day. These articles of clothing are prohibited except for ethnic, religious, or medical purposes.
• Demonstrate gang association/affiliation.

Attire worn in observance of a student’s religion is not subject to this policy.

Enforcement

Principals are required to ensure that all staff are aware of and understand the guidelines of this policy. Staff will make reasonable efforts to avoid dress-coding students in front of other students.

Students shall not be disciplined but may be removed from class as a consequence for wearing attire in violation of this policy when the attire creates a substantial disruption to the educational environment, poses a hazard to the health or safety of others, or factors into a student behavior rule violation such as malicious harassment or the prohibition on harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Further, no student shall be referred to as “a distraction” due to their appearance or attire.

Typical consequences for a violation of this policy include parent/guardian contact or conference and the directive to cover, change, or remove the non-complying attire. A student may be instructed to leave their classroom briefly to change clothes. The principal or their designee should notify a student’s parent/guardian of the school’s response to violations of the student dress policy.

The Superintendent or their designee is authorized to develop procedures in order to implement this policy if needed.