WESTMINSTER : Voluntary Dress Code Set for Four Schools

The Westminster School District’s board has approved a voluntary dress code for students at several elementary schools.

In a 4 to 1 vote Thursday night, the trustees approved a plan that encourages students to wear uniforms of blue shorts, pants or skirts with white shirts.

Trustee Kathy Stirling Iverson, who voted against the proposal, said she generally favored it but objected to a provision forbidding logos on jackets except for school designs, a rule she believes is too restrictive.

The program, designed in consultation with neighborhood parents, will be implemented in September at Anderson, Finley, Ray M. Schmitt and L.P. Webber elementary schools.

The board also approved a stricter dress code for Helen Stacey Intermediate School students, whose parents and faculty preferred that plan over the voluntary uniforms.

The rules at Stacey ban baggy and oversized clothing and T-shirts with designs other than the manufacturer’s logo, and require hair to be “of natural range of colors.”

Parents and students must sign a contract at the beginning of each school year to show that they understand and agree to the rules.

The regulations state that students violating the rules must change into clothes provided by the district or their parents. After repeated offenses, students could receive detention and be required to attend a conference with parents and teachers.