SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : School District Drops Proposal for Student Uniforms

The Capistrano Unified School District board has backed away from a policy that would have allowed individual schools to make student uniforms mandatory.

After more than an hour of debate, the board tabled the policy on Monday after it became clear that a majority of members would not support it.

Under the proposal, schools could have instituted mandatory student uniforms with a 60% vote of that school’s families. Parents who opposed a mandatory uniform rule would have had the option of sending their children to other district schools that do not require uniforms.

But board members were divided over whether the district even needed the measure. They also expressed concern about costs for extra busing.

Trustee Paul B. Haseman said, however, that the district should not ignore that it had some students who were gang members. He said that uniforms would be a way to combat any future problems.

“We do have real gangs” in South County, Haseman said. “I’m conscious of the fact that we do have an issue here.”

But board President Marlene Draper said uniforms would not “change the fact they (gangs) are here.”

“There are just too many questions,” Draper said of the proposed policy.

Four of the district’s elementary schools--Ambuehl, Palisades, Reilly and Wood Canyon--have voluntary uniform policies. The district also has a dress code that forbids “gang-related” clothing.