The Observation Deck

Dear Fellow Observers,

The 2005 High School Student Code of Conduct and 2006 Middle School Student Conduct will currently remain the same for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years with the expectation that all codes will be enforced "every period, every day."

Below is the recommendation that Superintendent Madak shared with the School Board at last night's meeting. While no vote was necessary as the student codes of conduct remain the same, all board members in attendance agreed with Dr. Madak's recommendation.

Dr. P. Joseph Madak wrote:Campus Wear Recommendation

Examining the possibilities of a Campus Wear dress code for Lakewood students came out of Board and Administration discussions for school district goals for this 2010-2011 school year.

Our primary goal here is for students to dress in a manner that is consistent with the important work they do in school. Another concern here is to minimize the instructional time students miss for being sent to the office for dress code violations.

In our work in this area, we have looked at research findings on the advantages and disadvantages of Campus Wear student dress codes, visited schools and talked with school officials who have Campus Wear student dress codes, reviewed the legal requirements of implementing a Campus Wear student dress code, and developed estimates of the required costs of implementing a Campus Wear student dress code.

Given our current economy and what we have learned from this work, and in consultation with our middle school and high school principals, I recommend, first, that we not pursue the implementation of a Campus Wear student dress code for the 2011-2012 school year, and second, that we continue with our existing student dress code with the expectations that students are to follow it and that staff is to enforce it consistently and in its entirety.

Should this Board of Education chose to proceed with this recommendation, I would hope that our Lakewood students would see this as an opportunity to avoid a Campus Wear student dress code.

Matt

Wonderful news! Thanks as always for keeping us up to date Matt.

I work in a Cleveland school with mandatory school uniforms and there are a lot of problems with it. Yes theoretically they look "nice" when in proper uniform, but dealing with the high number of kids out of proper dress code (anything from jeans to the wrong color shirt) creates so many discipline problems and/or kids being sent home when there are higher priorities, I am glad Lakewood is not doing this. Add to this high poverty and kids who just don't have the proper amount of appropriate clothing. Should they miss their education for this or sent to in-house detention? Kids in uniform can still sag their pants if they want too don't forget! And kids still make fun of other kids for not wearing Polo or other brand name! It is insane and I say focus on more important issues and let our children be individuals in their style!

Justine Cooper wrote:I work in a Cleveland school with mandatory school uniforms and there are a lot of problems with it. Yes theoretically they look "nice" when in proper uniform, but dealing with the high number of kids out of proper dress code (anything from jeans to the wrong color shirt) creates so many discipline problems and/or kids being sent home when there are higher priorities, I am glad Lakewood is not doing this. Add to this high poverty and kids who just don't have the proper amount of appropriate clothing. Should they miss their education for this or sent to in-house detention? Kids in uniform can still sag their pants if they want too don't forget! And kids still make fun of other kids for not wearing Polo or other brand name! It is insane and I say focus on more important issues and let our children be individuals in their style!

Justine

Damn you!

This is not about the kids learning. If it was we would be talking about books, lessons,
classes, and why they need to learn. This is about making the kids look nice(?) so that
when we see them in public none of them look poor and depress us. We all HATE looking
at those poor kids, so this way we can disguise them.

You know like the Euclid Corridor. We will just keep poor people off of Euclid and the buses.

Let them dress themselves! Slippery slope, do not want them thinking either.

Way too much time, way too many words on this.

Matt, thanks for the post and the common sense.

.

When I went to St. Augustine's in the late 60's (otherwise known as the stoned age) we were plaid uniform skirts with big pleats. By the time I became a senior I had stapled on my waistband and the inside of the pleats were threadbare with age, so I stapled the pleats down and of course the hem was stapled. I also colored in the plaid on my skirt with my cartridge blue ink pen. My blazer had no lining, it had all ripped out and it was still too big.

All my knee socks had shrunken to anklets and my saddle shoes were then 4 years old. Why would I spend money on those stupid things.

Yeah, I was an unfashionista in that thing.

Hi guys,

I had to come on and just make the point that I loved wearing uniforms in high school. I loved not having to think about any kind of choices when I got up in the morning, in terms of how I should look. I loved that there wasn't going to be any focus on that at all; so much of high school, after hours, seemed to be so much about that. I had no desire to "express myself" in class. Kids are assaulted by the culture that's out there in terms of ways that are "cool" to express themselves, way before they may feel like making any choices at all. Peer pressure is huge in this area, it did make it easier to focus on the classes at hand, when there was less to distract everybody. I have a feeling a lot of men would say that about wearing suits. Great, just have to pick the tie. Now leave me alone.

The marketing directed at kids now, versus the way it was in the 80's, is crazy. Kids this age are the main target, and their cultural and fashion icons are much younger too. This generation is being marketed to by the time they turn three.

I remember when kids were getting attacked for their tennis shoes, and sporting gear after school where I lived in Cleveland. I can only think that there was some relief from their parents when the schools said, "you aren't allowed to wear any of that any more."

This doesn't mean I'm coming down on the other side of the argument. I think Justine's point has to win in that to take time sending kids to the office for shirts of the wrong color, or for jeans instead of khaki's, seems like a waste of time and the money people are paid to teach kids. But if it's about pants falling off, or clothes that are barely on, as everybody tries to look like what's on TV-- it would be distracting to other kids. It sounds
like what Matt is advocating, and what the Lakewood dress code is, is just sensible, so it should work.

In terms of Jim's point, though there may be a terrible effort at "homogenization" afoot (and I think there is) like turning the interesting, locally--in places-- thriving Euclid Avenue, into the soulless bus corridor it is now, I don't necessarily see that here. I just know that in Cleveland, they were less trying to make everyone look like everyone else (at least at the beginning, at least in Collinwood) than they were trying to keep the kids safe, and focused on school rather than on music stars, sports stars and the latest queens of teen sitcoms.

I don't think it hurts kids not to be able to "express themselves" 24 hours a day. I think there's some peace in just focusing on school, and dressing up if you want to for whatever else you're doing, you're going to have to do that for the rest of your life.

At the same time, if people in authority positions in school are being overly strict about enforcing "uniform-wear", the color of a shirt, the fact that pants are blue instead of tan, it seems to go against the point of the idea in the first place, which was to just GET ON WITH IT, FOCUS ON CLASSES, NOT CLOTHES.

Lakewood seems reasonable. A dress code, no uniforms, but enforce the dress code.

I just had to say that I don't think the idea of uniforms is necessarily evil. (And you know I think a lot of things are evil.)

Betsy Voinovich

Justine Cooper wrote:I work in a Cleveland school with mandatory school uniforms and there are a lot of problems with it. Yes theoretically they look "nice" when in proper uniform, but dealing with the high number of kids out of proper dress code (anything from jeans to the wrong color shirt) creates so many discipline problems and/or kids being sent home when there are higher priorities, I am glad Lakewood is not doing this. Add to this high poverty and kids who just don't have the proper amount of appropriate clothing. Should they miss their education for this or sent to in-house detention? Kids in uniform can still sag their pants if they want too don't forget! And kids still make fun of other kids for not wearing Polo or other brand name! It is insane and I say focus on more important issues and let our children be individuals in their style!

There is a lot in your statement that raises questions.

First, you don't say what your position is, nor cite any data on how much waste is caused by the uniform policy, compared to how much is saved by the uniform policy.

For all we know, you may be a janitrix (not that that is not a needed position, but it is certainly one that would not have the data necessary to evaluate the policy). One would hope, and even expect, that the administration would realize that the uniform policy was causing a problem, if it was, and take corrective action. That they haven't is an indication that they think the policy is not causing a problem.

If you have any data, it would be interesting to see just how much time is lost in administrating the uniform policy, as contrasted to how much was lost to gang activity, fights, disciplinary problems, etc., before the policy was implemented. It would also be interesting to hear what any faculty and staff who were there before and after the uniform policy was implemented, think.

Most of the "problems" you cite appear to be the type that could easily be handled by a clearer explanation of the uniform policy; perhaps something as simple as a central point for buying uniform items would help. The military manages to do this; scout and similar organizations manage to do this; but a school can't?

That you apparently think the purpose of the policy is to make the students look nice indicates that you have no idea of the purpose of the policy. In large city schools, the purposes of the policy are to make the students less rowdy, to minimize gang influence, to eliminate peer pressure to dress stylishly (and expensively) and even to save the parents some money (it costs less to buy a few items needed to comply with the uniform policy, than to buy separate outfits for every day). I suspect also that the uniform policy is intended to instill a spirit of teamwork among the students, by differentiating them from those who are not part of the school, which is why you often see it in some of the more exclusive schools.

I don't know if Lakewood schools have a gang problem; I hope not. So if rowdiness and gang activity are not a problem, I don't see the necessity for uniforms (although it would have been nice to save some money on clothes when my kids were in school).

But a code of conduct is not the same as a uniform policy. and I think the schools. just as the parents. should be concerned with the conduct, and clothing, of the children. All parents have probably heard their children whine that everyone else is doing something, why can't I, and it is doubly hard to teach your children good conduct if the schools are not backing you.

I've always been curious how uniforms could save money. The way I look at it it would cost more money both in the purchase of clothing and in the cost of laundering. In a uniform school Monday through Friday my kids would wear a uniform to school and then come home and change into regular clothes. I wouldn't want them to wear their uniforms all day, especially when they are out running around, skateboarding or just hanging out and they might stain their clothes thus not enabling them to wear them. So I would still have to have as many regular clothes as I do now but I would have the additional cost of several sets of uniforms per child. So my laundry would double. Now I am fortunate enough to have a washing machine in my house but many people don't. Many Lakewoodites have to take their laundry to a laundromat and are not able to get there or afford to launder their clothing more than once a week. So in order for them to have clean clothes they would have to have at minimum 5 sets of uniform clothing in addition to the other clothing. Many families simply could not afford that. So I am just curious if someone could offer me some evidence that uniforms would cost less for their families even though at this point it is a moot point. I should note too I am not a big spender on clothing. Most of the clothing my children wear is purchased at thrift stores or on clearance. I don't believe in wearing name brand clothing, it just seems silly to me.

And Betsy thank you for sharing your experience. I welcome your viewpoints and I know many parents chose to send their children to private schools partially because of the uniform situation. I should also note I have always been in favor of the dress code, although the hair thing bugs me since I don't think my still slightly pink hair is a distraction. I do think appropriate dress codes are necessary since not all parents set reasonable clothing regulations on their children. I just want to see the dress code enforced and not have it vary depending on what security guard a student is passing.

Will Brown wrote:There is a lot in your statement that raises questions.

That you apparently think the purpose of the policy is to make the students look nice indicates that you have no idea of the purpose of the policy. In large city schools, the purposes of the policy are to make the students less rowdy, to minimize gang influence, to eliminate peer pressure to dress stylishly (and expensively) and even to save the parents some money (it costs less to buy a few items needed to comply with the uniform policy, than to buy separate outfits for every day). I suspect also that the uniform policy is intended to instill a spirit of teamwork among the students, by differentiating them from those who are not part of the school, which is why you often see it in some of the more exclusive schools.

Will

I have never read or seen one credible report that indicates uniforms address any of the
problems above, or championed "teamwork."

I remember in the old days Lakewood students had to buy their approved gym wear from
one source. You actually needed something put on that only they had and sometimes
teachers would ask for the receipt. Within 50 yards you could buy the exact same thing for
half the price. Coming from a single parent family with two kids in schools I would hear
about it each year as we needed new clothes. Just how often do kids out grow their
clothes and what a racket it could be for someone, supplying the students.

If it added to the overall education, process etc. I could see talking about it. But from
everything I had read and heard in this town, it does not. So exactly how many
baggy pants kids does it take for a city to make ALL parents pay from $100 - $2000 more
a year for public education? Was there such a move when pants were to tight?

.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Will

I have never read or seen one credible report that indicates uniforms address any of the
problems above, or championed "teamwork."

I remember in the old days Lakewood students had to buy their approved gym wear from
one source. You actually needed something put on that only they had and sometimes
teachers would ask for the receipt. Within 50 yards you could buy the exact same thing for
half the price. Coming from a single parent family with two kids in schools I would hear
about it each year as we needed new clothes. Just how often do kids out grow their
clothes and what a racket it could be for someone, supplying the students.

If it added to the overall education, process etc. I could see talking about it. But from
everything I had read and heard in this town, it does not. So exactly how many
baggy pants kids does it take for a city to make ALL parents pay from $100 - $2000 more
a year for public education? Was there such a move when pants were to tight?

.

Hi guys,

I googled "Do school uniforms stop gangs" "Do school uniforms stop violence". Clearly there's a debate going on. I'll just paste two entries from the first page in here.
Reasons for Uniforms

Dress codes are supposed to reduce violence and bullying by taking style differences out of the equation, according to the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Since the Clinton administration, the Education Department has encouraged schools to go further by adopting uniforms, saying they promote safety and discipline

Uniforms also prevent students from wearing gang colors to school. Uniforms are a good thing for many reasons that kids would not realize unless they were responsible for purchasing and maintaining their own wardrobe. Uniforms are provided (either free or at a small cost, everything else like tuition and books etc is free) or the parents can choose to follow the general guidelines. Some schools are more lenient but they're all pretty much the same. Children need rules and guidance. What would happen if kids could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted? Children are presented as robots without the ability to express themselves in a society that promotes self-expression and individuality. The problem is that the cost of expressing oneself and being an individual can be astronomical.



Potential Benefits of School Uniforms

* Preventing gang colors, etc. in schools
* Decreasing violence and theft because of clothing and shoes
* Instilling discipline among students
* Reducing need for administrators and teachers to be 'clothes police' (for example, determining whether shorts are too short, etc.)
* Reducing distractions for students
* Instilling a sense of community
* Helping schools recognize those who do not belong on campus

Potential problems of School Uniforms
* Students and parents argue that uniforms violate their freedom of expression (see below for more about what the Supreme Court has to say on this)
* Parents raise concerns about the cost
* Families fear it might interfere with religious clothing like yarmulkes


I remember all the talk about kids attacking each other after school for their tennis shoes and jackets, I remember talk about gang colors, and uniforms making it easier to identify if gang members were in school.

Danielle--

Sharon's post made me smile; her experience was like mine. I had one green skirt, with pleats permanently sewn in-- it was shiny with wear, but there was no reason to replace it, or have more of them. I had one cardigan sweater, five blouses and a whole bunch of green socks and white socks. The skirt was expensive, I wore one for two years. In the end, it was MUCH less expensive than having "school clothes." I changed into jeans at the door of the school, changed into play clothes at home-- not an outfit, it was just after school.

There are so many more schools doing uniforms now, they sell "uniforms" at Target.

Jim, I had the same experience as you did with the gym clothes in Cleveland schools. I don't know if they still do that. They were terrible uniforms. The boys had better ones as I remember..

I guess the point is that the Lakewood District feels we can enforce what we have and trust our parents and kids to stay on top of their "freedom of expression." I'm happy to be somewhere like this, small and manageable. I can see why the kids in the city of Cleveland wear uniforms, if there's any evidence that gang activity would go on in schools, and there seems to be.

Hey Kristine P. ---- I know you've done real research about this. Care to share?

Betsy Voinovich

Ah but Betsy the dress code clearly states that clothing must be clean and not in disrepair. My boys have gone to school with a tiny whole in their pants and have had to have duck tape placed over the whole. So it's doubtful that the security guards or the administration would allow uniforms that were not in good shape therefore it's a reasonable conclusion that uniforms would need to be replaced regularly. As for school clothes I have never really been a fan, my kids wear the same clothes on the weekend as they do to school. Nothing fancy just jeans and t-shirts. I do hope Kristine comes in and shares the information she has researched. I know there is a lot of info regarding the affects that uniforms have on proficiency scores and overall behavior.

How nice to be asked to come on The Deck. You may be sorry you asked.

I will say though that I am no expert—all that I have done is read a bunch of articles (I posted on the Deck awhile ago) and have had experiences with dress code/uniforms as an educator and as a mom. I don’t think I can settle this argument. In a nutshell, when the Clinton administration advocated for school uniforms it spawned some research to see if uniforms improved behavior and overall academic performance. The research could find no evidence that uniforms improved academic performance or behavior; however, one article that I did come across cited that it did improve how the school was perceived. The debate, I am sure, will continue.

I have taught in the Chicago Public Schools in which there are gangs. I will say that it didn’t matter what you wore to school if you were in a gang everyone knew who was in a gang and which one. The trouble was more around the school and the neighborhoods where the territories existed. Even little kids knew the path to take to school that would avoid trespassing on gang territory. It is just a different place. Every day I walked through a metal detector and had a police officer on every floor. In Chicago, only about 40% of the kids showed up (and we were still overcrowded on the north side). My point is how lucky we are that we live a place that we don’t have to go through that kind of security every day. I am not sure that uniforms wouldn’t portray Lakewood or compare us to Cleveland schools. I think we do much better than Cleveland and I wouldn’t want people to think that we needed uniforms because our schools were violent or out of control in some way. We’re not. We focus on the negative, but in reality, most kids go to school each morning in compliance with the dress code. Most are great kids!

When I taught in a Catholic high school there was time wasted on dress code and kids going home, again, every day. Some kids are going to push the envelope and try to get away with as much as possible. When I taught at Lakewood H.S. same thing, lots of time spent on dress code and kids going home every day. For me, it was hard to sometimes to enforce the dress code because there was conflicting answers on what was acceptable or not. That is the key, to make the dress code clear and be able to consistently enforce it. In talking with parents/students this seemed to be the main issue.

As a mom, I have to buy my son campus wear at his current school. It costs more. You have clothes for school and then clothes for everything else. Yes, it does cut down thinking about what to wear in the morning and there is less focus on what the kids are wearing at school. However, I think we all know that kids to sum up their peers and do judge…if not clothes something else.

I have been struck by this whole discussion of campus wear/uniforms and the time we’ve put into it because to me it seems like there are more pressing issues that our BOE could putting their energy toward. I don’t even think the issue of which school to close was talked about this often or scheduled on the agenda this much for discussion—and they were closing a school! The dress code; however, is an issue that most parents can get involved with because it hits close to home. I understand why this issue usually comes up from time to time in most districts.

But here are the facts, our superintendent and school board are telling us that finances are bad and are probably going to get worse. With the change of leadership in Columbus this is probably very true more than ever. Parents and the community are told that we are going to need to pass another levy, but we are never told exactly which programs would be cut if we didn’t comply and pass the levy. I have looked at other districts websites and often they are very clear with their community. They list specific programs and consequences if they don’t get additional funding. Then, I guess than it is up to the voter/community to decide if they can live without the programs that will be cut. Again, I ask the BOE, you know we will have less money in the future, how are you going to approach cuts?

At the community meetings and BOE meetings I am presented with financial forecasts that help me understand Lakewood’s financial crisis. I appreciate that. Yet, what I don’t hear about is what changes will be made to compensate those losses. Nor, do I hear about innovative ways to make our situation better now and especially into our future. These funding issues are not changing anytime soon. The economic landscape, in my opinion, is changed forever. I’d rather our BOE focus on these issues.

Here’s the thing, proponents of Grant Elementary (and overall the concept of having a centrally located school) didn’t advocate for this because we were “saving the school our kids attend”. The fact is whichever schools are rebuilt those schools will close first. Many of us advocated for a school downtown because we understand the potential. Having our BOE building, recreation, and school in the middle of our city is and can be a gem. We have the potential to have a campus-like facility that is promoting education, community, and business.

Imagine an educational facility that is large enough to handle recreation classes, board business, and a school with space to rent out to businesses, universities (like Tri-C, Phoenix), and other firms who need space to do training, team building, etc. An educational facility has the potential to attract business and people to Lakewood, generate some income for the district, while reflecting the Lakewood values of building community and families. We have the shopping and the restaurants to support a facility like this. Other districts such as Brook Park are thinking like this. They plan on doing exactly as I just explained. They are using their bond money to build a very large facility that will also contain a school. Lakewood could and should be a leader in our region for innovation like this.

I heard something very interesting the other day about Pittsburgh. Many of you may know how much they have turned their city around in the last twenty years from being a steel city to what it is today. The people involved with changing Pittsburgh admitted to missteps. They said they were always looking for the “silver bullet” and then realized it was more about small consistent changes that truly provide the building blocks to make a city work (and I don’t mean just changes in traffic patterns or new signage). How can our school district make small and innovative changes that would improve our financial stability so that we are less vulnerable to state funding and property taxes? How can the city and school district work together along with other stakeholders in our community? In Pittsburgh they had collaboration from all entities; non-profits, universities, businesses, and government.

Sometimes just throwing money at the issue is not the solution. Sometimes just “appearances” aren’t enough either to be sure kids will learn and have all they need to be successful beyond high school. Let’s stop spinning our wheels and move forward with some real solutions to our current and future challenges.

As an LHS teacher, I can only offer this observation. I do a better job teaching a student in my classroom, as opposed to when they are in the office or on their way home to change clothes. It seems to me that our superintendent and the school board have this one right. We need to hold the line on our expectations, enforce the rules we have, and deal with the very small percentage of kids out of compliance on a student-by-student basis. Everyday I see approximately 130 different students in my classroom. On any given day, I usually have to remind one kid to remove their hat or put away their "hoodie". Total class time for these reminders and subsequent compliance is about 15 seconds per day. I can deal with that. As long as we don't keep moving the goal posts, students, teachers, and families have a reasonable expectation of what is and is not in compliance with the dress code.

I commend everyone for saying that we need to shift our focus more towards actual education. Wouldn't it be great if we focused more on questions involving 21st century skills and the level to which we are preparing our students for a world that has changed immensely since any of us were in school? Perhaps a debate about the use of blogs in the classroom, or the financial wisdom of textbook purchases, or even a debate about our 40 minute class, 9 period school day, could fill the void left in the discussions now that this matter has been put to rest? I am glad to see a recognition that we have bigger fish to fry. As someone who mans the fryer, I look forward to hearing our local education debate move towards more substantive issues.

Sean--- I for one certainly do appreciate how the implementation (rubber hits the road) is actually done and is so precisely described by you.
I think that in public policy areas, simply walking through the ideas would go a long way towards understanding and acceptance.
Stan

Will I know you like to pounce on my words and twist them so I will clarify your questions. Of course I know the reasons for choosing uniforms are more than to look nice. Of course I know one reason is to discourage the gang colors. I have two students who proclaim to be in a gang and I have had the gang unit at my school several times this year. I have also learned that they now wear certain colorful socks (or other items) to show their gang colors. I actually loved the uniform idea in the beginning, but have changed my mind because at times it certainly takes away from education. I stand at my door every morning telling the same kids to take off their hoodie and put it in their locker and the same kids are late to class everyday. I hear the principal constantly walking the halls yelling "tuck in those shirts!" because to be in uniform the boys' shirt MUST be tucked in.

I have student oeprating as low as a first grade level, from various backgrounds of abuse and neglect whose behavior as a result has prohibited proper education. I hear the kids making fun of each other for their shoes, their hair, their race, their sexuality, the name brand (or lack of) shirt they are wearing. Does the uniform dress code in my school prevent gang colors or people focusing on outer appearance? No. Do I want to pick and choose battles everyday over if their shirt is tucked in or not? No. I am not babysitter, I am an educator who has daily battles to pick and choose with students who don't want to learn, who have given up and many whose parents have given up on them and this may be their last year in any public school. I am an educator who has bought uniform clothing for students who come from such poverty they only have one shirt in uniform. Children who come from eight and nine sibling families and are the oldest in ninth grade whose mom doesn't have time to wash or buy them clothing to fit the school code. I bring in clothes so I don't have to send them back home. I recruit others to donate clothing (thank you Jen Matousek for your generous donations). I have literally pulled up sagging pants that were uniform code. I have had a desperate and irate parent yelling at me about uniforms and being laid off and not having money to buy new uniforms.

That is my data and research. I don't think it matters whether I am the secretary, janitor or teacher, but since it matters to you, I am a masters degree special education teacher in the process of taking endless courses after work and on Saturdays this year to become highly qualified in every subject.