Gang-Style Attire Banned at Antelope Valley Schools

After months of wrangling, the governing board of the Antelope Valley Union High School District on Wednesday night adopted a sweeping ban on gang-related attire by students at the district’s six campuses.

The new policy, which school district officials have been debating since the start of the school year, takes effect immediately in the nearly 10,000-student district, which covers the entire Antelope Valley.

School officials said banning gang attire, a growing trend among Southern California school districts, should reduce fighting and other problems on the district’s campuses.

The ban does not single out specific types of clothing, accessories or other items, but empowers principals to ban items they believe will provoke violence. District officials said it will be up to principals to decide, based on advice from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, on gang fashions.

The most controversial aspect of the policy, opposed by many students, is a complete ban on all baseball-style caps except official school caps. School officials said baseball caps, including the kind bearing emblems of professional sports teams, have become a common part of gang attire.

The policy provides for warning students for first offenses, and suspension or expulsion for subsequent infractions.

School board President Larry Rucker said he hoped the policy would improve safety on the district’s campuses, but he warned it will not cure the problem. “I haven’t seen one policy that has eliminated gangs from campuses,” he said. “It may help.”

The board adopted the overall policy by a 5-0 vote after a final debate of more than an hour over its wording. But the board split 3 to 2 on the baseball cap ban, which was opposed by board members Rucker and Jarold Wright.

Parents and teachers had been pushing the board to impose the ban, especially after the early January fatal shooting of Antelope Valley High School student Chris Sanford, who was shot to death at a party, allegedly by a gang member. Sheriff’s deputies are still seeking a suspect.

The new policy states that “No gang-related jewelry, insignia, colors, paraphernalia, materials, apparel, clothing or attire may be worn or carried on campus or at school activities.”

The policy also outlaws items “including, but not limited to, gloves, bandannas, shoestrings, wristbands, jewelry which are likely to provoke others to acts of violence or which are likely to cause others to be intimidated by fear of violence.”