Ansonia students attending kindergarten through eighth grade at John G. Prendergast and John C. Mead School, along with students attending seventh and eighth grade at Ansonia Middle School will be following a new dress code this year.
The policy, created in May, goes into effect in September.
This past spring parents received a brochure with pictures of the required ware for the upcoming school year.
Pants, skirts, shorts and skorts can only be in Docker-style, dress, or Chino-style in blue, black or khaki and only corduroy or polyester material.
Shirts for students can be in any solid color polo or collar style however the brochure pictured white, light blue and dark blue short polo shirts and blue long sleeve collar shirts for boys and girls. Students can wear sneakers or rubber soled shoes but they cannot wear sandals or open toed shoes. They cannot wear shoes or clothing with logos.
The brochure had a very large, bold “NO” on the back to emphasize a list of clothing students could not wear to school. Cargo pants or pants with pockets on the legs, sweat pants or sweat shirts, large chains or spiked jewelry and spandex pants are among some of the prohibited clothing.
Hoodies, denim in any color, tee-shirts over polo shirts and fleece jackets are other items not allowed.
“I’m all for it,” said Annette Mellor, who has a daughter, Jessica, entering the second grade at Prendergast School. “I think it’s easier for parents who are low income than to compete with what other kids are wearing.”
Mellor’s neighbor, Christina Angeski, has three children who need clothes and also are switching to Mead because of Ansonia’s restructuring.
She sees the reason for the change, but the increased yearly cost of clothing to outfit her kids for school disturbs her.
“I can understand why because some kids don’t dress appropriate,” Angeski said. “On the other hand, you’re paying for the expenses of uniforms and regular clothes.”
I sometimes wonder how I got an education in my blue jeans and Famous Monsters of Filmland tee-shirt. I understand a code for base modesty and things obscene, but when this code changes every year and prohibits much that is considered basic clothing it has become utterly ridiculous. Parents need to stop being sheep and claim their right to dress their own children.
If the kids wore appropriate clothing to school it would be ok, but a lot of parents either don’t care, don’t see or just don’t want to argue with their kids about what they wear. It’s a shame it has come down to basically have public school kids wear uniforms but looking at how kids dress for school, this is most definately needed.
I think what is needed is a more involved parent base and case by case enforcement. Schools would be better off by far, if they spent more time figuring out how to keep open electives and culture broadening courses and less time worrying about dress codes and teaching to standardized tests.