Southfield schools may ban blue jeans
July 5, 2005
BY TERESA MASK
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
Jeans soon may be fading away from both high schools in the Southfield Public School District.
A new dress code takes aim at sagging and tight denim -- a staple in many teenage wardrobes at Southfield High School and Southfield Lathrup, in Lathrup Village.
To the dismay of those who have a closet full of them, the proposal prohibits jeans or any type of denim fabric, tank and halter tops, pajamas and sunglasses, among other items.
It's all part of the changes that have come along with a new administration. During her first year at the helm, Superintendent Beverley Geltner has been stressing the need to reduce the number of tardies, detentions and students who repeat grades.
Geltner couldn't be reached for comment, but in the past has said requiring a standard code of dress would help students focus on school.
"Most students don't want to wear khakis and collared shirts," 17-year-old Corin Reade said Thursday. "I'm hoping they will reconsider some of this stuff."
Southfield, like other schools across metro Detroit and the country, already has a dress code. But to address poor academic performance and to curb clothing that has a double meaning, such as gang affiliation, board members said an update was necessary.
Board President Janie Fulton said Thursday she doesn't know when the board will vote on the issue but wants a new policy before school starts in the fall. She said her mind isn't made up about the jeans issue. But board member Darryle Buchanan, who had to wear a uniform to the Catholic school he attended as a child, said he agreed with the ban.
Betty Robinson, whose son will be a sophomore, said she doesn't allow him to wear sagging pants. Most parents buy their children's clothes, so they know what they are wearing, she said.
"You buy them too big, then you know they are gonna fall off," she said Friday.
Many area public schools have dress codes, including Detroit, Pontiac, Warren Consolidated Schools and Troy. And at a lot of schools, such as Plymouth High School in Canton, dress codes govern formal events like the prom because students were getting too risque.
Southfield doesn't typically have problems at the elementary and middle school levels because it already has a strict dress code, which bans jeans.
The fact that high school students might not get to wear jeans is disappointing to some.
"I don't sag my jeans at all," 16-year-old Seon Britton said Monday. "This goes back to first grade. You know, one person can mess it up for everybody."
Britton and Reade say they don't believe the studies that indicate uniforms equate to better academics. Reade said she thinks it has less to do with clothes and more to do with the attitude of the students.
Reade said it will be tougher for kids to find slacks and dress pants -- and more expensive. On a recent shopping trip, she said the cheapest pair of slacks she could find were $35; the jeans she bought were $16.
