COSTA MESA, NEWPORT BEACH : Students Hold Protest Against Dress Code
Protesting a new districtwide dress code, about 75 students at Newport Harbor High School held a rally on campus Thursday, but most returned to class peacefully after district Supt. Mac Bernd arrived to speak with a few representatives, officials said.
More than 25 students left campus, however, and walked to nearby Ensign Intermediate School, said Nadine Wilck, spokeswoman for Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
“Twenty-seven students walked off campus at Ensign,” Wilck said. “They were lured off campus by some of the kids from Newport Harbor High School.”
The protesters object to a ban on ragged or extremely baggy clothing, Bernd said, and what they perceive as an unfair limit on a form of self-expression: clothing.
Bernd and Ensign Principal Scott Paulsen said that several rumors about the new dress code circulated among students and that the protesters may have been misinformed.
The code, approved by the school board Tuesday, prohibits gang-related attire, along with clothing that encourages illegal activity, gang membership, racism, sexism, other forms of discrimination or violence.
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