Enthusiasm for School Uniform May Be Dwindling : Simi Valley: Fewer children are garbed in the blue and white, and some parents dress down policy. But administration sees benefits.

On the first day of classes at Garden Grove Elementary School, hundreds of Simi Valley children marched on campus in crisp blue pants and bright white shirts.

Amid the sea of uniformity, school officials preened. Garden Grove was the only Ventura County school taking advantage of a new state law allowing uniforms in public schools, and the response was tremendous.

But five weeks later, the number of uniform-clad youngsters has dwindled, and some parents are calling the county’s first uniform experiment a first-class blunder.

“I hate it,” said parent Angel Fils. “The kids are uncomfortable. There are so many other things this school should be working on.”

But Principal Elroy Peterson said the voluntary uniform policy is improving student behavior and promoting a more professional learning environment.

“We have had absolutely a decrease in ‘junk’ problems between children,” he said of petty campus squabbles. And “we have not suspended a child yet this year because of discipline.”

The policy is embraced by most Garden Grove parents, he said, with the exception of a handful of families.

Although wearing uniforms is optional, children who do not wear the parochial-style blue-and-white outfits must comply with the school’s strict dress code, which bans oversize pants, hats, leggings not covered by skirts and combat boots.

The policy also forbids T-shirts adorned with writing or pictures, except those depicting the school’s mascot.

An identical dress code at Valley View Junior High School is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a federal lawsuit against the Simi Valley Unified School District this month. The suit alleges that the policy violates students’ constitutional right to express themselves.

In recent years, schools nationwide have adopted strict dress codes--and now uniforms--in part to stop street violence from entering classrooms.

That is not the case, however, at Garden Grove, a small suburban school of 625 students nestled in a residential neighborhood. The elementary campus has never had a history of violence or gang activity.

So why the need for uniforms?

Peterson suggested the policy last spring to promote school pride and improve learning. A survey showed that more than 70% of Garden Grove families supported the idea.

But now, some parents are saying the uniform policy and dress code are foolhardy requirements that are hindering--not helping--students’ education.

“I don’t think it is necessary,” said Shelley Mouzis, whose 10-year-old daughter was pulled out of class for wearing leggings without a skirt and forced to change into a uniform. “What’s more important--her education or what she is wearing?”

Angel Fils agreed.

“There is so much to be done to better the education of these kids rather than looking for kids with a ‘Lion King’ T-shirt on,” she said. Fils’ two children do not wear uniforms but adhere to the school’s dress code.

“I was very surprised to see the turnout in the beginning,” Fils said. “But as the weeks have gone on, it’s been less and less.”

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Some students who are wearing uniforms don’t like the white collared shirts and stiff blue pants required.

“They itch and they’re not comfortable,” said 10-year-old Kenny Bohannon, who would rather be wearing “baggy pants and a really long shirt and have it untucked.”

Many students said they don’t like being told what to wear by school officials and are teased by youths from neighboring schools.

“We are not allowed to wear what we want anymore,” said Frank Chinoski, 11, a sixth-grader at Garden Grove.

“I hate being the first school to have uniforms because people make fun of you,” Kenny said. “They think you are a woosie or a wimp.”

On a recent afternoon, Fils shook her head in frustration as her 10-year-old son, Tony, quickly untucked his shirt as he walked off campus.

“Perfect example,” she said. “He has to wear his shirt tucked in to school, and he gets to me, it’s untucked. He doesn’t feel good. If it is on his mind, there’s something else he is missing.”

Tony, a fifth-grader, said he doesn’t like the new policy and doesn’t know any kids who do. “They hate wearing their shirts tucked in,” he said. “I don’t like it at all.”

But like it or not, school officials across Southern California are beginning to adopt uniform policies.

About 50 schools in Orange County are trying voluntary policies this fall, and the Long Beach Unified School District recently adopted a policy requiring all 57,000 students in its elementary and middle schools to wear uniforms.

“This is not a single, bizarre approach by one school district,” said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center in Westlake Village. “This is a movement across the country.”

Yet Stephens acknowledged that there is no well-defined research to support the claim that uniforms make campuses safer or improve learning.

“I haven’t seen studies. All I have heard is personal experiences and anecdotes,” Stephens said. “This is an area that needs some definitive research.”

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But Peterson said the uniform experiment at Garden Grove is working. “It gives (students) a sense of school pride and a sense of work ethic,” he said.

And if parents and students don’t like the idea?

“We have schools of choice,” he said. “There are 19 elementary schools in this valley and they can go to any one they want.”

As for the decrease in students wearing uniforms, Peterson said on the first day of classes about 75% of the students were dressed in blue-and-white outfits. Since then, the numbers have fluctuated between 50% and 75%.

“Most of the children don’t have enough uniforms yet,” he explained. When the uniforms, he said, “are dirty or in the wash, they wear other things.”

Parent and special education aide Julie Tindall has stocked her family’s wardrobe with uniforms. Not only do her twins, Blake and Ashley, wear them, but Tindall wears a uniform to school as well.

“We as a family made up our minds that we would do whatever the school’s decision was,” she said.

Unlike Tindall, some teachers have not embraced the policy. Only 40 to 50% of the faculty wear uniforms, and Peterson knows he cannot force them to do so. But at least one parent has complained that by not following the school’s policy, teachers are setting a poor example for students.

“I agree with her 100%,” Peterson said. “The problem is, teachers have a contract.”