Enforcing the Dress Code Policy in Lima City Schools

AHHH Dress Code!

It was official in 2005; the Lima City Schools board of education adopted a new dress code policy. This policy would be used to crack down on the unruly students who refused to follow the already lenient rules. “With a stricter dress code, students will focus more on school than looking at other students, said Suzanne Helm, a Victoria resident.” (Cavazos, 1). Lima City School District, like the Victoria school district located in Texas, spent many hours designing the new dress code policy. This new policy will test if the way students dress effects their behavior and the way that they learn.

““Everybody goes to school looking the same, and they can concentrate on what’s going on in school, learning in their classes, concentrating on their education rather than what somebody else is wearing”, Helm said.” (Cavazos, 1) The question to answer is why don’t students follow the set rules regarding the dress code? Some parents and school officials, would argue that set polices are hard for students to follow and others would argue that policies aren’t strict enough. “More than a year ago, about 100 parents and students expressed their outrage at the board meeting saying the dress code was too strict and limited freedom of expression.” (Ford, 1). Unlike the Easton Area School board, Lima City Schools left their policy open so students would not have to wear the same uniform every day if they wished not to. They have options within the set policy.

In a bigger picture, students don’t come to school for a fashion show they come to school for an education. Somewhere along the line some students and parents have forgotten that simple fact. In some districts, like Wilson County Schools, the dress code violations got so out of hand that administration had to threaten suspensions, “During the first six days of the policy change 184 high school students were suspended.” (Creech, 1). The Lima Senior High School campus made the same decision as the Wilson County Schools. On Tuesday January 27, 2009, the Lima City Schools suspended about 164 students for dress code violations. They both knew that their students were having problems following the rules, and since the punishments that were set didn’t affect the students they did the one thing that got the students attention.

Today, businesses, just like schools are cracking down on the dress code. “The City spent about $45,000 on polos, caps, and fleeces – green for parks and light blue for inspections – that bear a city logo.