Uniforms Will Be Optional at 4 Schools

The Whittier City School District is experimenting with a plan to discourage diversity--that is, diversity in clothing.

The school board voted unanimously Monday to give students at four elementary schools the option of wearing uniforms. The schools are Wallen L. Andrews, Lou Henry Hoover, Abraham Lincoln and West Whittier.

The idea started with parents last year and filtered upward through the district.

Despite the initial cost of uniforms, the plan could ultimately save parents money and end the clothes wars, at least until junior high school, said Dora Buchner, principal at West Whittier. “Some children can afford to wear name brands. Others must wear secondhand clothes.”

Uniforms also can eliminate some gang-related clothing, she said.

Because the uniforms are not mandatory, not all children might be wearing them right away. “Teachers have to make sure that there is no ridicule of the children wearing uniforms at first,” Buchner said. “We hope to create a lot of pride in children no matter what they wear. This also has to be taught to our children.”