In the wake of a controversy involving the altering of yearbook photos, the St. Johns County School Board said Tuesday it would form a broad-based committee to consider changes to the district s dress code policy.
School officials issued several proposed revisions to the current policy Monday, but at Tuesday s board workshop many parents said the changes don t go far enough and continue to unfairly target young women.
The news comes as the school community has been thrust into the spotlight with national and even international attention focused on the editing of some female students yearbook photos at Bartram Trail High School. The images were digitally altered to minimize cleavage and add more clothing.
Some parents and students are calling the policy flat-out sexist for both its wording and enforcement as more than 80% of infractions over the last three years have been issued to female students, according to data provided by district officials.
A March 26 large-scale inspection of students dress at Bartram Trail High School resulted in 31 students cited for issues such as the length of their skirts or exposed midriffs. All of the violations were against female students.
The problem, critics say, is that verbiage in the policy, such as modest, not revealing and too distracting, puts the blame on young women as if they were actively trying to call attention to their developing bodies.
This is a big deal : Students on the First Coast want to change sexist dress code policies
Students in St. Johns and Duval Counties are speaking to First Coast News about their concerns of discriminatory language in school dress code policies. Author: Leah Shields, Nick Moron Published: 6:02 PM EDT April 29, 2021 Updated: 6:08 PM EDT April 29, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla Families across the First Coast are challenging their school district’s dress code policies calling the rules sexist and out of date. Dress code controversies have evolved over the years to become a fight against the sexualization of young girls.
“Sexual objectification is a huge thing in our school especially, said Laila Khazravan, a student at Bartram Trail High School.
St Johns County middle school students protest dress code staugustine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from staugustine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A growing number of students and parents are putting pressure on the St. Johns County School District to revise its dress code, calling it unfair and sexist following a March 26 building-wide inspection at Bartram Trail High School that resulted in 31 students cited for violation of the policy on that day, all female.
The school district is accepting parental input on the issue now through April 30 in its annual look at dress code policy as part of the larger student code of conduct review it does annually.
According to Bartram Trail students and parents, administrators and other school staff lined up in hallways on March 26 to monitor the wardrobe of students, with girls being asked to hold their hands over their heads to check if shirts exposed any skin on their midriff area.