WESTFIELD – The School Committee voted last night to send the issue of the student dress code to the Human Resource & Policy Committee for further review after students, and parents, objected to the enforcement of the policy contained in the student handbooks.
Committeewoman Cynthia Sullivan made the motion to refer the issue to the subcommittee.
“I think there is some confusion about what is OK and what is not OK,” Sullivan said this morning. “We’ve had several requests to look at it. It may or may not be changed, but is it worth putting it into subcommittee to look at it and make a recommendation to the full School Committee.”
Sullivan said that the dress code enforcement is occurring at all of the district’s four secondary schools.
“It’s not just the (Westfield) High School. All of the secondary schools are enforcing it,” Sullivan said. “The South Middle School started on the second day of school, calling parents (to bring clothing in compliance with the code for their children). It’s just more pronounced at the high school, maybe because the students are older and have a greater role in deciding what they’ll wear.”
Sullivan said the dress code issue has not been addressed since the 1990s and needs to be reviewed.
“Styles change, technical terms change over time,” Sullivan said. “Maybe we need to adjust the language in the policy.”
Westfield High School Principal Jonathan Carter said in a recent interview with the Westfield News that the dress code hadn’t been enforced in many years and that the policies in the student handbook are intended to set high academic and behavioral expectations while creating a school environment that is based on safety, respect, and student achievement.
Parents of WHS students recently elected the six-member School Council, an advisory board which addresses policy issues and any other issues within the building. About 500 parents cast ballots in the election of the six parents who will serve on the School Council.
Parents were handed blue ballots upon entering the Montgomery Road school last week with the names of 19 of their peers, the most in school history according to Carter, and were tasked with selecting the six parents they believed would be best suited to represent their needs and concerns on the council.
The advisory council is comprised of 24 members, six parents, with six representatives from both the school’s student body and faculty as well as a six-member administration contingent including Carter, his three assistant principals, the high school’s special education supervisor, and the school’s athletic director, Karen Gomez.
Parents selected Debbie Houle, David Huntley, Joanne Papadimitriou, Kelly Paradis, Tom Walsh, and Tammy Ward who are now set to begin their tenures on the council.
The WHS School Council may also make recommendations to adjust the dress code policy to the School Committee as part of the district’s review practices.
