Officials, Parents Debate Uniforms at Balboa

What students wear to school has again become an issue in Ventura, as Balboa Middle School officials grapple with the issue of requiring students to wear uniforms next fall.

Officials and parents gathered at the school Thursday night to discuss school uniforms and expanding the dress code policy, which already bans baggy clothing, bare midriffs and skirts and pants that are too short.

“Wearing a uniform would quickly identify our students with Balboa,” said Cheryl Crone, president of the school’s PTA. “Statistics show that uniforms decrease violence,” said Crone, citing data from school districts in San Diego and Long Beach, which have uniform policies.

Sgt. Ken Corney, who oversees the Ventura Police Department’s Gang Task Force, spoke to the more than two dozen parents who attended the meeting. He warned the audience that students who wear certain types of popular clothing could be mistaken for gang members.

But parent Kathy Roche, a critic of school uniforms, said a stricter dress code was no guarantee of student safety.

“Uniforms aren’t the answer,” she said. “Violence occurs in many places and with many people. Uniforms do not change the way people behave.”

Supt. Joseph Spirito led a movement for school uniforms two years ago, but parental opposition squashed the idea. Many thought that was the end of the contentious issue.

But starting in August, a group of PTA members and school officials again broached the idea of school uniforms for Balboa Middle School’s 1,230 students, arguing that it would end problems of enforcing the school’s dress code and could raise academic performance.

The latest proposal for uniforms has touched off a heated debate. Critics say uniforms would create a legion of student clones, and the energy spent on deciding what students should wear could be better spent on more pressing education matters.

Some parents even accused administrators of trying to carry forward the agenda of a minority of PTA members and school administrators who support a uniform policy without input from all the parents.

Before administrators make a final decision, they said, they plan on polling all Balboa’s parents to see whether there is support for uniforms beyond those who are pushing for it. At least 75% of the parents would have to favor the idea in order for uniforms to be required, school officials said.