Lakeland Catholic schools will revisit dress code policies, parents become more vocal

Lakeland Catholic School Division schools are set to review their dress code policy after pressure from parents disputing their daughters clothing was inappropriate.

These changes will not happen until the fall because schools are occupied with exams, but are meant to fall in line with the province’s educational guidelines of accommodating and respecting gender identity and expression.

“Schools maintained dress codes that provides students with positive guidelines for appropriate dress in an educational setting, and the context of a Catholic school environment,” LCSD student code of conduct says.

“These dress codes should be flexible enough and worded such that all people feel comfortable in a school environment.”

“And as a district,” said LCSD communications officer, Amanda Wildman “we acknowledge that there may be some issues with some school dress codes not being aligned with that administrative procedure. And as a district, we’re looking very carefully at each of our school dress codes and taking action to resolve any issues that are identified by students and parents, as they relate to that matter.”

When the summertime arrives, students dress for the weather, which can create issues between students, parents, and school staff on what’s appropriate to wear to school.

School boards like Northern Lights Public Schools, St. Paul Education Regional Division, Conseil scolaire Centre-est, and Lakeland Catholic School Division have general guidelines when it comes to dress and attire, but allow each school to enforce their own policy.

Typically what is addressed is inappropriate logos and slogans, hats, length of shorts, skirts, dresses, covering private parts, midriff, exposed bra straps, and thickness of tank tops.

Depending on the school, students who don’t follow the dress code are requested to change their clothes before they can return to class or even sent home.

Parents getting more vocal

Issues at Ecole Dr. Bernard Brosseau middle school last week sparked the recent dress code conversation, and parents are not happy about the current code.

“Every year we’re dealing with the same problems,” said parent Erin Nielson.

Nielson’s two daughters in Grades 6 and 8 at Dr. Brosseau were dress coded last week while wearing shorts that Nielson didn’t think twice about sending her kids to school with.

Nielson said her daughter in Grade 8 was told in the hallway that she was not following the dress code, which prompted Nielson to meet with the principal.

“I do understand where the school is coming from in respect to wanting children to be dressed appropriately,” said Nielson.

“I find the only thing that’s drawing sexual attention to what these kids are wearing are the staff when they’re pulling and calling these kids out in front of their peers.”

Principal Revoy at Dr. Brosseau said there have been issues, but stakeholders will get the chance to review the policy next school year.

LCSD deputy superintendent Pamela Guilbeault added: “We immediately contacted our principal so that we could address this matter, because we understand how important it is to ensure that we maintain a safe and caring and welcoming environment in our schools. That’s our number one priority. We need to make sure that our students feel safe.”

Guilbeault said that all schools have to comply with safe and inclusive communities, although the Education Act may change under the new provincial government.

Part of the concern from parents like Nielson and Crystal Dechaine is that the summer clothing currently in the dress code, shorts that must reach mid-thigh, are not easy to find in stores.

Parents are also concerned that the dress codes only target what girls wear and not boys.

“It’s time for change. It’s time for the dress code to be revisited in the schools. I think that they need to be revisited routinely, like yearly, because it’s a new group of students,” said Crystal Dechaine.

“When you’re hearing about kids being called out in front of their peers, we’re looking at anxiety and depression rates in our young people like an enormous rate, we’re talking about anti-bullying and mental health programming.”

Following meetings with the school board, Nielson and Dechaine have been pleased with the response by Lakeland Catholic and Dr. Brosseau.

Student concerns

Assumption junior high student Ivy Smereka said she finds dress codes a hard subject to deal with.

“Teachers shouldn’t have to be afraid to look at their students and see something that’s inappropriate.

“But there’s also the fact that they can be unreasonable and are enforced incorrectly. And frankly, a lot of the punishments for dress codes are just humiliating,” she said.

Smereka said the clothes her friends have been dress coded with has been “ridiculous and unnecessary.”

“If you are wanting to wear a skirt or a dress, you have to actually measure it with a ruler to make sure that it is exactly to the middle of your thigh. And if a teacher thinks that it could be even a millimeter off, they are able to take you and measure it,” she said.

However, recently graduated student Laura Werstiuk who attended “various schools” in the Lakeland, said in a written statement she had little issues with dress codes policies in her experience and can only recall a handful of times it happened to both boys and girls.

“Many professions require specific attire or have a dress code not only to appear professional but to also keep workers safe. The concept of a school dress code is essentially the same. I understand that many individuals consider the dress code to be biased or sexist, but why should students be treated differently than those in the ‘real world’,” said Werstiuk.

She added that dress codes are not about creating a list outlawing articles of clothing, but rather are another step in a student’s education.

How the dress code has changed

Acting superintendent of Conseil scolaire Centre-Est, Henri Lemire began teaching in the early seventies and described how dress code issues have changed so much in the following decades.

He remembers the first time a male teacher wore sandals and shorts in the classroom, or when an elementary school teacher was asked to take out a tongue piercing.

“Back in 1974 when I first started teaching in Bonnyville, I can remember the first few days I was there when one of my colleagues said ‘you should have been here last year when the students held a demonstration that they wanted to wear jeans at school.’”