|
David
Blount, Editor
While the General Assembly has been very active during the
past decade in addressing issues related to the safety of
students while at school, it has not ventured into the realm
of student and staff dress codes. These issues are left to
the discretion of local school boards as part of the development
and maintenance of school division policy manuals. The legislature
spoke on the issue of school uniforms in 1995, when it granted
all local school boards the authority (previously reserved
for only Petersburg and Portsmouth) to require students to
wear uniforms while at school. Specifically, it enacted 22.1-79.2,
directing the Board of Education to develop model guidelines
for local school boards to utilize when establishing requirements
for pupils to wear uniforms. The law specifically prohibits
the use of state funds to buy school uniforms. Presently,
only a handful of school divisions (Richmond and Norfolk among
them) have policies requiring (at least) some students to
wear uniforms.
No legislative activity or further study is anticipated on
this specific issue in the near future.
1995 – HB 2032, HB 2136, SB 1054
As previously noted, more than three dozen states have authorized
local school districts to establish policies on school uniforms.
Click here for summary of recent Virginia Legislative history
of “Dress
Codes and Uniforms.”
Click cepi@vcu.edu to provide
comments or additional information. Please indicate in an
e-mail the copyright source and contact information for new
inclusions. Back to Top
Copyright © CEPI 2000
CEPI grants permission to reproduce this paper for noncommercial purposes if
CEPI is credited.
|
