MOORPARK : Board Seeks Ban on All Hats at School

Concerned that banning certain colored hats discriminates against Hispanic youths, the Moorpark Board of Education proposed a district policy to ban all hats at district schools.

A rancorous school board discussion on the current dress code Tuesday night lasted more than three hours and ended with a direction to Supt. Tom Duffy to develop a policy, approved by the district’s legal counsel, that bans all hats, not just black, dark blue or red hats often worn by gang members.

After hearing a presentation on the dress code, which has been in effect since the beginning of the fall semester and was formulated because of several gang-related incidents aimed at Moorpark High School students, board member Pam Castro said she wished there had been more sensitivity regarding the dress code.

“This is a focus on Hispanics . . . a change of tradition that shows an insensitivity,” she said.

Castro added that many of the youths who hang around together “have been friends from day one. I think we should congratulate these kids who wear these hats and who maintain a low crime rate in Moorpark,” she said.

Moorpark High Principal Cary Dritz said that the policy is not discriminatory and that no disciplinary action has been taken against any student because the it.

The board directed Dritz to continue the policy but to make sure there was no discrimination involved and to ask for more input from students.