Ted Gilkey on Dress Code Education Law

The Board of Education of a school district has the right to regulate pupil dress and personal appearance if they become

so extreme that they interfere with a school’s favorable learning atmosphere.

Your school district has a dress code for students that you will receive in your teacher

handbook.

The dress code will define what is acceptable and what is not in terms of student dress and

personal appearance.

Moreover, it most likely prohibits clothing of other paraphernalia with the suggestion of tobacco, drug or alcohol

use, sexual promiscuity, profanity, vulgarity, or other inappropriate subject matter.

However, applying a dress code can be difficult.

You will find that there will be many incidents that will raise questions in your mind about the appropriateness of students’ hair style or length, hair color, message on t-shirts, display of

items such as the confederate flag, or even gang symbols.

Symbolic speech in general is a protected right of students.

Wearing a belt buckle or t-shirt displaying a Confederate flag should only be banned if the case can be made that

it causes or elicits school disruption.

The Confederate flag itself is not “patently offensive” (Bragg v. Swanson, 2005).

However, if a school district of a school has a history of racial problems and if school officials can support a reasonable forecast of disruption, such symbols can be prohibited.

Your primary concern in the classroom is for student learning and student welfare.

If you have concerns about a student’s dress or appearance, or if the dress promotes illegal or inappropriate activities, you

may want to alert the appropriate building administrator who will determine whether any action needs to be taken.

Always ask yourself whether the item has the potential to be disruptive to student learning

or student welfare.