Student Dress Code: JICA

Our student dress code supports our desire to ensure a safe, inclusive, and productive learning environment for ALL members of our community. School is a place of learning and a place of work/business, thus all community members, staff as well as students, are expected to comply with our dress code.

Our dress code is founded on the following principles:

1. Ensuring respect for self and being respectful of all members of our learning community.
2. All students and staff should understand that they are responsible for managing their own personal "distractions" without regulating individual students' clothing/self expression.
3. All students should be able to dress appropriately for school and engage in the educational environment without fear of or actual unnecessary discipline or body shaming.
4. Student dress code enforcement should not result in unnecessary barriers to school attendance.
5. School staff should be trained and able to use student/body - positive language to explain the code and to address code violations.
6. Teachers should focus on teaching without the additional and often uncomfortable burden of dress code enforcement.
7. To ensure effective and equitable enforcement of this dress code, school staff shall enforce the dress code consistently and in a manner that does not reinforce or increase marginalization or oppression of any group.
8. As members of the 27J learning community, we should represent our schools with dignity and pride in our attire at all school sanctioned events, on and off our campus.

Our student dress code is designed to accomplish several goals:

1. Maintain a safe and inclusive learning environment.
   • Enabling the ability to identify individuals in person and on video cameras
   • Wearing proper attire in classes where protective or supportive clothing is needed, such as chemistry/biology (eye or body protection), dance (bare feet, tights/leotards), or PE (athletic attire/shoes).
   • Prevent students from wearing clothing or accessories with offensive images or language, including profanity, hate speech, and pornography.
   • Prevent students from wearing clothing or accessories that will interfere with the operation of the school, disrupt the educational process, invade the rights of others, or create a reasonably foreseeable risk of such interference or invasion of rights.
   • Prevent students from wearing clothing or accessories that reasonably can be construed as being or including content that is racist, lewd, vulgar or obscene, or that reasonably can be construed as containing fighting words, speech that incites others to imminent lawless action, defamatory speech, or threats to others.
2. Prevent students from wearing clothing or accessories that denote, suggest, display or reference alcohol, drugs or related paraphernalia or other illegal conduct or activities.
3. Allow students to wear clothing that expresses their self-identified gender.
4. Allow students to wear religious attire without fear of discipline or discrimination.
5. Ensure that all students are treated equitably regardless of race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, cultural observance, household income or body type/size.

27J Schools - Dress Code

27J expects that all students and staff members will dress in a way that is safe, inclusive and appropriate for the school day or for any school sponsored event. The primary responsibility for a student’s attire resides with the student and their parent(s) or guardian(s).

I. Basic Principle: Certain body parts must be covered for all students at all times. Clothes must be worn in a way such that genitals, buttocks, breasts, and nipples are fully covered with opaque fabric. All items listed in the “must wear” and “may wear” categories below must meet this basic principle.

II. All Students Must Wear, while following the basic principle of Section I above*:

1. A Shirt or “top” which covers the mid-section of the body (with fabric in the front, back, and on the sides under the arms), AND
2. Pants/jeans or the equivalent (for example, a skirt, sweatpants, leggings, a dress or shorts), AND
3. Shoes.
   • *Courses may include assignment-specific dress. Activity-specific shoes requirements are permitted (for example, athletic shoes for PE).

III. All Students May Wear, as long as these items do not violate Section I above:

• Beanies, hats and similar headwear that does not inhibit the ability to see the face of the student may be worn. Staff may request the removal of non-religious headwear during instruction.
• Religious headwear
• Hoodie sweatshirts. Staff may request the removal of the hood during instruction.
• Fitted pants, including opaque leggings, yoga pants and skinny jeans
• Ripped jeans, as long as underwear and buttocks are not exposed
• Tank tops; halter tops, etc. in compliance with Section I above.
• Athletic attire

IV. Students Cannot Wear:

1. Violent language or images.
2. Images or language depicting drugs or alcohol or any illegal item or activity, or symbolism of sex, drugs or alcohol.
3. Hate speech, profanity, pornography or language that alludes to pornography (Ex. Playboy bunny symbol).
4. Images or language that creates a hostile or intimidating environment based on any protected class or consistently marginalized groups.
5. Clothing that reveals undergarments (unless it is a pair of shorts) which are covering the areas of the genitals, buttocks , breasts, and nipples.
6. Swimsuits (except as required in class or athletic practice).
7. Sunglasses
8. Accessories that could be considered dangerous or could be used as a weapon.

V. Dress Code Enforcement

To ensure effective and equitable enforcement of this dress code, school staff shall enforce the dress code consistently using the requirements below. School administration and staff shall not have discretion to vary the requirements in ways that lead to discriminatory enforcement.

1. Students will only be removed from common areas, hallways, or classrooms as a result of a dress code violation as outlined in Sections I and IV above. Students in violation of Section I and/or IV will be provided three (3) options to be dressed more to code during the school day:
   • Students will be asked to put on their own alternative clothing, if already available at school, to be dressed more to code for the remainder of the day.
   • Students will be provided with temporary school clothing to be dressed more to code for the remainder of the day.
   • If necessary, students’ parents may be called during the school day to bring alternative clothing for the student to wear for the remainder of the day.
2. School staff shall not enforce the school’s dress code more strictly against transgender and gender nonconforming students than other students.
3. Students should not be shamed or required to display their body in front of others (students, parents, or staff) in school. “Shaming” includes, but is not limited to:
   • kneeling or bending over to check attire fit;
   • measuring straps or skirt length;
   • asking students to account for their attire in the classroom or in hallways in front of others;
   • calling out students in common areas, in hallways, or in classrooms about perceived dress code violations in front of others; in particular, directing students to correct sagged pants that do not expose their undergarment, or confronting students about visible straps and waistbands on undergarments; and,
   • accusing students of “distracting” other students with their clothing.

Such conversations should take place in a respectful manner and setting away from other parties.

These dress code guidelines shall apply to regular school days and summer school days, as well as during any school-related events and activities, such as graduation ceremonies and performances. Students who feel they have been subject to discriminatory enforcement of the dress code should contact their school Administration.

 

Current practice codified 1983 

Adopted: January 24, 1984 

Updated: June 12, 1990 

Updated: May 2009

Updated: April 2021