Tooele County School District doesn’t require students to wear uniforms, but as of Wednesday morning the school district has a uniform dress code.
The Tooele County School Board adopted a district-wide dress code at its meeting Tuesday night.
Prior to the new dress code, school district policy left the decision on student appearance up to each school.
“What we really had was 16 different policies throughout the entire district,” said Superintendent Scott Rogers of Tooele County School District. “A consistent policy throughout the district is easier for parents to understand as students move from school to school. It is also easier to enforce.”
The school board has discussed a draft of a district-wide dress code policy since September 2015. Board members have accepted public comment at meetings and solicited feedback on the school district’s website.
Legal counsel advised the district that restrictions in the dress code must be based on things that are disruptive, unsafe or present a hazard, according to Rogers.
For example, the new dress code states, “jewelry must not present a health or safety hazard or distraction, which would disrupt the educational process or mission.”
Tattoos are also not specifically prohibited by the proposed dress code unless the tattoo can be tied to an unsafe school environment or it causes an actual disruption to learning.
“If it’s not unsafe, disruptive, or a hazard, then it’s allowed,” Rogers said. “I know that requires some subjective judgment, but that can’t be avoided when you’re talking about defining things like ‘disruptive.’”
Included on the forbidden list by the proposed dress code are clothing or other personal items with writing, pictures, or insignia that are crude, vulgar, profane, violent or sexually suggestive.
Hair, mustaches, sideburns, and beards must be “clean and well-groomed,” according to the code.
Like tattoos, hairstyle and color are only limited by requirements to maintain a safe school environment and to avoid actual disruptions to education.
Rogers said he made an effort to make sure the dress code did not unduly single out girls. It includes, among the examples of banned clothing, things like singlets, sagging pants with visible underwear, and muscle shirts with enlarged holes, he said.
The new dress code is effective immediately, according to Rogers.
“We will post the dress code on our website and email it to parents via Peachjar,” he said. “We will also put it in new student handbooks.”