APS adopts changes to dress code policy (ABQ schools to allow students to dress as they like)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | June 16, 2022 | Esteban Candelaria

[CedarDave]

Students should be able to be comfortable in their own skin. They should also be able to express themselves with their clothes, incoming La Cueva High School senior Erica Ho says.

But sometimes, students get in trouble for that expression. And more often than not, Ho says, it’s young women who are singled out – often by dress code enforcers who say their goal is to maintain a professional, “distraction-free” environment.

“You come to school trying to express yourself, … you come to school trying to learn,” Ho said. “You’re not really thinking about if I’m showing too much skin, because that really shouldn’t be on a woman’s mind.”

So, determined to make a change, she raised her concerns with the Albuquerque Public Schools board.

On Wednesday, the board took up that very issue, and unanimously voted to change district policy with new language aimed at equal enforcement of the dress code. The policy changes came after gathering feedback for a year, an APS spokeswoman said.

“Erica very articulately pointed out that it wasn’t her problem if a young man couldn’t control himself, because she was wearing spaghetti straps – that the onus was on young men,” Domínguez said. “She was spot-right-on that we shouldn’t be engaged in controlling girls’ bodies.”

“In school, you’re never really confronted by a sympathetic dress coder,” Ho said. “If you’re showing too much skin, you’re typically met with degrading, condescending, scolding, or even passive-aggressive remarks … It really makes me not want to come to school.”

Ho added ... “it should be my peers’ responsibility to stay focused on their work, rather than my responsibility to create a ‘distraction-free environment’ for them.”

[Roadrunner383]

Well, in the dinosaur days when I was in school, girls were not allowed to wear slacks unless the offical temperature at 6am was 32 degrees or below. Jeans were forbidden under any circumstances for both boys and girls. This was pretty common in public schools in N. Fla. Boys hair couldn’t touch the ears or shirt collar (and your shirt had to have a collar, no t-shirts allowed). Those were the days!!