Should the Lafayette Parish School Dress Code Include Jeans?
Lafayette parish school students will be returning to class in just a few weeks. In fact, most school systems in south Louisiana have indicated that they will be welcoming students back to the classroom before the middle of August.
If you were out over the weekend you probably noticed people shopping for two things, one, a winning lottery ticket, and two clothing for back to school. Of course, the lottery ticket isn't required but if you're going to send a kid back to school this fall, they have to be dressed within the constraints of your school system's dress code.
Over the past month school boards in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes have opted to allow students to wear jeans as part of their approved school uniforms. The board members in both cases cited the high cost of outfitting kids for back to school as the reason for their decision.
The reasoning was this, many families already have jeans on hand that fit their child properly. So, why make parents suffer the added expense of new khaki or navy blue pants when they already have jeans?
For clarity's sake, the amendments to the Calcasieu and Cameron dress codes do come with restrictions. The jeans can't be ripped, frayed, torn, or otherwise abused. They must be blue in color as well. In other words, the kind of jeans your grandmother would let you wear to a church picnic or vacation Bible school.
Should the Lafayette Parish School Board consider amending the dress code for its students as well? As it reads right now the dress code for Lafayette Parish students does not allow wind suits, gym shorts, leggings, jeans, jeggings, joggers, or sweat pants.
Before you immediately say "hell yeah my kid should be able to wear the pants I have already purchased for him/her" consider this. The reasons schools have a dress code are:
-To Promote School Safety
-To minimize distractions
-To prevent suggestive or inappropriate clothing styles
-To foster an attitude of respect for authority
-To prepare students for life after school in which many businesses do have dress codes.
I won't argue with any of those. As a parent, I liked the fact the "you can't wear that" argument between me and my kids was already settled by the school board. I also get that new clothes are expensive and so is gas and so is electricity and so is just about everything else.
I also know that with some students if you give them an inch they will take a mile. I would fully support adding jeans to the dress code if similar amendments such as the ones added in Cameron and Calcasieu Parish were adopted. I also understand why some school administrators would not be in favor of making these changes.
Perhaps the blue jean debate could also be considered in St Martin Parish, the dress code disallows jeans. Vermilion Parish also says no to jeans. Iberia Parish does not allow jeans. It also appears as if Acadia Parish is a "no" on jeans as well. St. Landry is also a "no" when it comes to jeans too.
Disclaimer: We've made every attempt to locate the most recent dress code for each parish school system that we've mentioned in this article online. In some cases, it was easy to do. In other cases, it was not very intuitive. If we have used incorrect or out-of-date information for a particular school system's policy we'd appreciate the assistance in providing the correct information. We will amend this article to reflect the correct links and information.
Our intention is to not cause discourse but to open a discussion that could benefit many families in these tougher than usual economic times. We fully support and respect the rules and regulations that each of these school systems and school boards have approved and implemented for the betterment of education in our area. So There.
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