School Dresses Up Its Anti-Gang Message : Education: Sunkist Elementary officials hope uniforms will help curb the influence of gangs and name-brand competition on student wardrobes.

Gray trousers and a yellow shirt may not make the most daring fashion statement in town.

But officials and parents at Sunkist Elementary School in La Puente hope that outfit and similar ones will send a powerful message to gangs to leave their students alone.

The school is the first in the San Gabriel Valley to adopt an optional uniform policy, school district officials said. Public schools cannot force students to wear uniforms though many have adopted dress codes.

Parents and administrators said they also hope the program will help reduce name-brand competition in student wardrobes.

Erlinda Rios and her son, Sergio, were the first in line Tuesday when the uniforms went on sale in the school auditorium. Sergio will be in the first grade next year, and Rios wanted to get a head start on clothes shopping.

The peer pressure to wear uniforms may outstrip the desire to wear gang colors, Rios said.

“If he doesn’t wear them, then it’s going to make him feel bad,” Rios said.

Most of the casual-looking uniform separates come in the school colors, green and yellow. A pair of tan or gray pants with a yellow or white shirt and green sweater runs about $70. Plaid skirts cost about $30 and walking shorts about $15.

Parents can expect to pay about $110 for a standard school week wardrobe combination, said Eric Singer, manager of Dennis Uniform Co. of Anaheim, which was selected by the school committee to supply the uniforms.

And parents can always spend more. Rios’ total for two shirts, two pairs of tan pants, a green sweater and jacket: $130.54.

“That’s about as much as I was thinking to spend,” Rios said.

Across the auditorium, Angela Angulo and Celina Lievanos, both in the fourth grade, were on hand to model different uniform combinations. They also made a persuasive sales pitch about how they hope the clothes will help counter the influence of gangs.

Angulo said that she sees some of the children in her class mimicking the style of clothes associated with gang membership. Some also scribble the symbols of various gangs on paper, she said.

“A lot of kids think they want to be in a gang,” she said.

Lievanos said some gangs try to recruit at the grade school level and wearing a uniform might send a message: Don’t mess with us.

“They (parents) are trying to give us uniforms to keep us away from gangs, but it’s our decision,” she said. “With the uniforms, we don’t look like we’re in one and that helps us when the gang members ask us.”

Principal Robert Watanabe agreed. “We have a little problem with the gangs,” he said. “Some of them (students) will wear the colors like red and black.”

Watanabe began discussing the policy idea with students, parents and administrators after one La Puente resident suggested it to the Bassett Unified School District, which oversees Sunkist. The idea had also been discussed among Sunkist elementary school parents. The district supported the idea in 1990, giving the go-ahead to Sunkist.

“We wouldn’t dare try this without the support of parents, staff and kids,” Watanabe said.

The success of the optional uniform policy ultimately depends on the support of parents willing to buy them. A parent poll taken by the school in December received 271 responses, about two-thirds in favor of the policy. Financial burden was the primary reason given for those who voted against the plan.

Since then, the school has set up a financial aid fund to help parents who might not be able to afford the clothes. Officials have pointed out that the uniforms will help prevent children from competing with each other in the expensive fashion statement game.

“They start having clothes competitions,” Watanabe said. “This is by far cheaper than going out and buying Bugle Boy shirts.”