Wilson Signs Law Allowing Public School Uniforms

Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation Tuesday permitting school districts to adopt dress codes requiring their students to wear uniforms on campus.

Citing the proliferation of gangs, Wilson said uniforms would allow students to focus more on academics and less on fashion.

“It used to be that students only had to worry about putting together clothes that matched,” Wilson said. “Today, the wrong combination can get you killed.”

Wilson signed the bill by state Sen. Phil Wyman (R-Tehachapi) at a ceremony in his office attended by about a dozen uniform-clad elementary school students from the Central Valley.

Also present was Jesse Atondo, 17, the student body president at Arvin High School near Bakersfield. Atondo’s campaign to persuade his school board to adopt a uniform policy prompted the legislation Wilson signed Tuesday.

Current law allows schools to ban the wearing of colors associated with gangs and permits schools to adopt voluntary uniform policies. But school districts said they did not believe they had the authority to require students to wear uniforms.

The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires districts considering uniform policies to consult with principals, teachers and parents before choosing a uniform.

The district must give parents six months notice of any change and provide an alternative if they do not want their child to wear a uniform. Children who want to participate but cannot afford the uniform must be provided one.

The bill sailed through the Legislature with bipartisan support and the backing of most of the major school lobbying groups. The only formal opposition came from the American Civil Liberties Union, which contended that there was no evidence that uniforms reduce crime or improve learning.