Students Give Dress Code Plan a Dressing-Down : Thousand Oaks: School hopes to enhance learning but some youths say rules are sexist and unconstitutional.

Wearing baggy pants, baseball caps and clunky combat boots, about 40 Thousand Oaks High School students gathered after school Friday to protest a proposed dress code that would ban such outfits.

School officials said the rules that could go into effect in the fall would promote “a productive school environment” and “encourage young men and women to dress for success.”

Students, however, said they want the freedom to dress as they please.

And opponents of the dress code said their objections are more than a matter of fashion. They’ve enlisted a senior at the school--a National Merit Scholar and debating-team champion--who last week went to a Conejo Valley school board meeting to argue that the code is unconstitutional, sexist and a violation of civil liberties.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which earlier this year successfully represented a student in a legal battle with a Simi Valley school that imposed a restrictive dress code, also weighed in Friday, objecting to a portion of the code that bans clothing containing “offensive or obscene symbols, signs, slogans or words degrading any cultures, gender, religious or ethnic values.”

“It’s our feeling that it is unconstitutionally vague and constitutionally defective,” said ACLU spokesman Allan Parachini.

Thousand Oaks High School Principal Keith Wilson said the code is the product of three years of consideration by a committee that included parents, students and teachers. He said he expects it to apply at the start of the next school year, although it will probably be revised before then.

“The overwhelming heart of our community is in favor of it,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t need to be defended.”

A copy of the rules recently distributed to students explained that one of the goals is to “set a tone that Thousand Oaks High School is not a beach or a mall, but an educational institution where students should present themselves in a manner that promotes success.”

The code also aims to combat clothing that signals gang affiliation or advertises drugs, alcohol or tobacco.

Among the gang-style fashions banned are all hats and headgear (except when required by a sport), boots with more than 10 holes, baggy jackets, and “Dickies [style pants] worn with Pendleton-type shirt.”

Brot Bishop, chairman of Pendleton Woolen Mills of Portland, Ore., said he was unaware that his “very high quality” wool shirts were associated with gangs.

Jim Martin, assistant principal at Westlake High School, said his school does not use a strict code. The minute a school makes a rule banning certain clothing, he said, gang members just switch to wearing something else.

The Thousand Oaks High code also bans a variety of garb that “compromises modesty,” including tank tops, short shorts and “tight or revealing clothing.”

Districtwide policy has for years banned “unduly revealing clothing,” and an amendment adopted last year allows individual schools to ban gang-related clothing. The proposed Thousand Oaks High code is more specific, and has managed to irk even some students who support the general idea of a dress code.

“I’m not against the idea of a dress code per se, but they go way too far,” said Jennifer Gertwagen, the debater who spoke to the school board last week.

Jennifer worries that the dress code’s prohibition against offending or degrading religious values could be used to outlaw popular T-shirts featuring a fish with legs and the name “Darwin” inside.

“You can degrade atheists but you can’t degrade Christians,” she said. “The atmosphere on campus is crazy. I’ve had people tell me that you relinquish your constitutional rights when you leave the house to go to school.”

The rally, which Jennifer did not attend, was marked by shouting, smoking and milling around. Organizers said they were disappointed with the turnout but vowed to continue their battle at a meeting of the school’s “site council” on June 13.

Parents, for their part, expressed mixed feelings about the proposal. Some said they supported efforts to prevent gang violence on campuses.

“I understand the kids being upset. I’d like to see them kept safe,” said Susan Donohue.