I was sitting in my office Friday morning, finishing up a presentation I would be making to the dean and our faculty in our college assembly meeting that morning. Just as I was about to head over, I got a phone call from Jeffrey’s middle school. Jeffrey had committed the crime of wearing shorts that did not come down 4 inches below his knee cap. Apparently there was a dress code that explained this rule. I had not yet seen it, nonetheless, I was guilty as an accomplice.
I explained that my wife was at school, and I was about to head off to a meeting that would go until 12:00. The nice person on the phone said, don’t worry, and just bring the pants as soon as I could. A few minutes later I got an e-mail from the school adding the fact that Jeffrey would be in in-school suspension (ISS) until I brought his long pants to school. The person on the phone had stressed over and over again that Jeffrey was not in trouble; when I apologized repeatedly for my ignorance of the dress-code policy, she insisted I had no reason to apologize. The e-mail even said the same thing. Yet, here Jeffrey was being detained — locked down in a room, barred from his classrooms, declared unworthy to receive “Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills” because of his offending attire.
I couldn’t stand the thought of–or the irony of–Jeffrey being denied an education due to my ignorance of the dress code while I as sitting in an important College of Education and Human Development meeeting. I rushed home, got the pants, dropped them off at the school, and got Jeffrey released from the Stinson Prison. When I returned to UTSA, there was no parking anywhere. I had to use the pay-as-you-go-lot, far from my meeting location (so much for my $250 Faculty A parking pass). I was over an hour late for my meeting.
In case you can’t tell, this experience has greatly frustrated me. While I support the school’s dress code–and agree wholeheartedly with their right to have one and enforce it–I find it unethical to deny a child’s right to learn simply because of a misunderstanding that is no fault of the student. The dress code policy was burried in the mountain of paper my wife I received from different school orientation meetings.
I wonder, does the school have research providing strong evience that a 6th grade-boy’s kneecaps pose such a threat to the learning environment of the school, that he must be detained and hidden from faculty and students? Does occasional kneecap exposure lower TAKS scores by a standard deviation?
When I dropped off the pants, I told to the person in the VP’s office that I felt it was innapropropriate to deny Jeffrey’s right to learn over the shorts issue. She claimed he was given work to do in ISS, and thus was not being denied his right to learn. Oh really? Like that’s the same thing.
I got a phone call at the end of the day from his English teacher. Jeffrey missed her class first period, and thus was not able to turn in or complete work. On one of the assignments, he will receive a late penalty.
It seems to me that a more reasonable, a more rationale, a more ethical (and less stupid) policy would be at least to issue a warning on the first offense, and take that opportunity to ensure that the student and family are properly informed of the policy and the dire consequences in case of future infractions. And if the school honestly believes that knee cap epidermis prevents quality teaching and learning, then why not keep a few pairs of pants in the office students can wear, at least until parents arrive?
Zero tolerance policies for minor first-time dress code infractions make zero sense. While its certainly effective in enforcing the dress code (we’ll never break it again, I swear!), is it really worth it? Is this how the school wants to start out its relationship with new students and parents? The message to parents is clear — Dress code enforcement is more important than teaching and learning.
I sincerely hope from this point forward, his school focusses more attention on meeting his unique educational needs and less attention on his knees.
