PARENTS SHOW UP IN FORCE TO PROTEST WC UNIFORM POLICY

By Rick Joslin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

The Watson Chapel School Board was “dressed down” Monday night by about 100 parents and students protesting the district’s revised uniform policy and its enforcement.

“Learning cannot be conditioned based on dress,” said Wendy Crow, founder of the FED UP (Fighting Education Depriving Uniform Policies) group challenging the dress code and a number of suspensions that have occurred since the new procedures were implemented when classes began Aug. 21.

“A child is not a mere creature of the state,” she stated.

Crow asked the board to “please reconsider” its uniform policy, which she believes is contrary to promoting diversity.

“Uniforms haven’t made the changes they were expected to,” she said, contending that violence and other problems within schools have not been eliminated by clothing restrictions. “Uniforms are not a miracle cure-all.”

Several parents and students carried protest signs outside the district’s administration building and its lobby prior to the meeting, but were told by officials that the placards would not be allowed in the board room for “safety reasons” and to ensure that no one’s vision would be obscured.

“If you’re going to make them (students) wear uniforms, then teachers should be role models and wear uniforms themselves,” said Jimmy W. Roberts.

Two parents bemoaned the suspensions of their children, who they described as academic leaders.

Sylvia Morgan said her son has a 4.0 grade point average but was sent home because his belt buckle bore a designer’s logo.

Clinton Parker, an Altheimer native who now lives near Atlanta, said his daughter, who has a 3.97 grade point average, was unjustly suspended because stitching in her pants was found in violation of uniform guidelines.

Robin Barker told the board that its dress code is not a “black-white issue,” and that “some gray area” exists. She urged the directors to refer to the district’s handbook and employ “progressive punishment” on infractions. She said the uniform policy and the penalties it has produced are causing students to lose their “school spirit.”

“Why can’t we refocus and put this energy on educating our children?” she asked the panel. “How many grades will fall due to these suspensions?”

Watson Chapel Junior High School teacher Gary Lynn Cheatham said she was “proud of my students,” who have been “100 percent” in compliance with the dress code. She said she favored uniforms for pupils.

Board President Charles Daniel drew raucous jeers and boos when he halted the public comment period so that the directors could complete their agenda with an executive session. Director Danny Holcomb directed a Jefferson County deputy sheriff to remove the demonstrators from the building.

Meanwhile, Daniel was requested by a reporter to state the purpose of the executive session, mandated by the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. He appeared to be on the verge of replying, but failed to speak above the protesters’ outcries.

Holcomb said after the meeting that the board last year asked patrons to provide input on its uniform policy, but received little response.

“I wish we had had as much participation then as we did tonight,” he said.