School Tallying Survey on Uniforms

The principal at Barbara Webster School in Santa Paula said Wednesday that he is scrambling to get parent surveys on school uniforms tallied by September.

If parents favor them, Webster would join five other schools in the Santa Paula Elementary School District that will require uniforms for the 1998-99 academic year.

Principal David Luna said his school did a survey near the end of the school year. A follow-up is being done by mail in English and Spanish.

The survey asks:

* How would you feel about having a uniform policy?

* How would you feel about being part of the committee to select school uniforms?

* Do you think a dress code should be mandatory?

* If we had a dress code policy, do you think it should have an appeal process built in?

About 80% of parents supported uniforms at five other schools that conducted similar surveys.

But all five schools will allow parents to sign a waiver if they do not wish their children to participate. The dress code calls for navy blue pants, shorts or skirts, and either white shirts, or polo shirts in white, red or green.

Two of the schools--Glen City and Grace Thille--had already implemented a uniform policy and will make uniforms mandatory at the beginning of the upcoming semester.

Three other schools--Isbell Middle School, and Blanchard and McKevett elementaries--will begin with a voluntary policy. In January, uniforms will become mandatory.