Orange and Black Uniforms?

It looks like Pennsbury may be the next district to go for school uniforms. Maybe orange and black aren't the best combination...Can you imagine celebrating Halloween year round?

District mulls uniform policy
By MANASEE WAGH

Fretting over what to wear to school could become a thing of the past for Pennsbury High School students starting in fall 2009. That is, if a budding idea for a mandatory uniform policy bears fruit by the end of the coming school year.

A few board members and parents expressed an interest in having students wear some kind of uniform, said Gregory Lucidi, school board president.

“Mainly it’s the idea of dress appropriateness in schools. In high school, there are many instances of inappropriate dress,” he said, adding that a generic dress code for all students would also eliminate any gang-related dress.

Quickly identifying people who don’t belong in the schools is another benefit, said Lucidi, who’s been thinking about a dress policy for some time but hadn’t brought it up earlier because the board had been busy with more pressing items, like the budget.

Over the summer, the administration is going to look at creating a committee to study the issue, said Lucidi. “We’d like it to be mostly parents. That would be our first focus,” he said.

Having student representatives on the committee might be a possibility as well.

If the board approves forming the committee in September, it would give the members three to four months to come up with recommendations.

Lucidi said he’s discussed the issue with some parents, all of whom love the idea. On the other hand, students with whom he’s broached the subject aren’t too keen on wearing the same thing to school day after day.

Lucidi said he has nothing specific in mind that he believes students should wear.

“I’d like to see something generic they could purchase anywhere. It’s less expensive to dress in uniform every day than to buy children the clothes they want to wear to school.”

Khakis and a golf shirt for boys, with flexibility in garment colors, for example.

Other districts have instituted uniform policies in the past year. School Lane Charter School in Bensalem started a policy in 2007, while Bristol’s board implemented a procedure for Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary School students to wear uniforms, though it’s not an official policy.

A voluntary uniform policy for Bristol Township students will start in its nine elementary schools in September, and Morrisville is also considering a school uniform policy to begin in the fall.

Lucidi believes students would be better off if they stay away from risqué and unsuitable outfits. “It would also help with esteem issues. This way everybody’s equal.”