Uniforms Add New Wrinkle to Annual Rite of School Shopping

Surrounded by aisles of brightly colored summer clothes during a back-to-school shopping trip with her father, 8-year-old Summer Simmons was faced with an easy choice: a white, collared shirt and a dark skirt.

Summer, whose elementary school in the Hueneme School District has a new uniform policy, joined hundreds of local students Sunday in a race to get clothing for the school year.

Summer vacation is coming to an end for most Ventura County students. Today is the first day of classes for the single-school Mesa Union District in Somis, while next week 11 districts begin their fall semester, including the nearly 19,000-student Conejo Valley Unified School District.

The Hueneme district, which starts Tuesday, is the latest in the county to require uniforms, altering the annual shopping ritual that tests parents’ nerves and children’s patience.

Summer’s father, Leonard, said Sunkist Elementary’s dress code will save him time as well as money.

“She’s not standing in front of the closet figuring out what she’s going to wear that day,” he said, looking over the skirts--one dark green, another deep blue--that will make up the rest of his daughter’s third-grade uniform. “I think it works well for her age group.”

With less than two days before his daughter returns to school, Simmons acknowledged that he was a last-minute shopper, but he was not alone.

*

Parents and children packed area stores Sunday, turning school supplies aisles into shambles and filling dressing rooms.

Lucas Villa, 5, who will start kindergarten at Los Primeros Structured School in Camarillo, had simple tastes. His new blue and white long-sleeve shirt is his favorite, because “it’s soft,” he said, climbing into a shopping cart to point out the selection.

His father, Aaron, said he enjoys back-to-school shopping, because he gets to see his son and two daughters become excited about the new school term. Nonetheless, he and his wife have been eagerly anticipating uniforms, he said.

“We can’t wait,” Villa said with a smile. “Getting the girls dressed is a major hassle.”

Parents were not the only ones facing crowds over the weekend.

At Staples in Ventura, last-minute shoppers decimated the store’s stock of a basic school supply: notebook paper.

“We’re running out,” said operations manager Anne Truong. “We’ve been very, very, very busy.”

The store hired about 10 people for the seasonal rush, she said, but is still looking for more temporary employees.

“We opened all the cash registers and the lines are still long,” she said.

At the JC Penney in Thousand Oaks, sales clerks were scrambling to get clothes from the changing rooms back to the racks.

“It’s so busy we can’t believe it,” said one children’s department employee. “It’s incredible.”

Parents were also out in force at Mervyn’s in Simi Valley, where girls’ bell bottoms and Lee’s Pipes jeans were hot sellers with the older students.

“They’re popular with junior high and high school boys,” said Alison Ebbert, an employee in the children’s department.

Roz and Steve Stolar were among dozens of couples making their way through the aisles at Oxnard’s Wal-Mart to find clothes and backpacks for their children.

The parents were in good spirits despite a long drive from Canoga Park, but acknowledged that shopping was beginning to wear them down.

“It’s not toy shopping, it’s clothes,” said Roz Stolar, her sons, 8 and 5 years old, in tow. “It gets frustrating trying things on and pulling them off.”

According to Steve Stolar, this time of year is a mixed blessing. “They’re going back to school, but it’s a hassle,” he said. “Everyone runs to the store at the same time.”