Superintendent: School Uniform Proposal is 'Dead'

Parents can stop bargain hunting for khakis and polo shirts. After months of meetings, workshops and public forums, the Newport School Committee will no longer pursue a uniform code of dress in the middle and elementary schools.

The committee made the decision at its meeting Tuesday night, a week after it hosted a

“This wasn’t about the clothes, it was about the core problem that distracts from student behavior in the classroom," School Committee Chairman Patrick Kelley said Tuesday.

Kelley said the strongest argument he heard from last week’s forum was the financial burden the new requirements would put on parents who relied solely on second-hand clothing and could not afford to purchase new clothes. Other arguments included the right children had to express themselves through clothing choice and parents' views that uniforms and behavior had no true connection.

 “There must be other things to do about student behavior,” he said.

Committee member Sandra Flowers, who said she had initially supported the proposal, said during the committee's meeting Tuesday night that she could no longer support a uniform code of dress policy either.

“. . .We should enforce more stringently the present School Committee dress policy assuring alignment and enforcement of elementary, middle and high school at the same time,” she said. “[We should] give the ability to the administration to enforce it and not put undue burdens on parents and guardians.”

Superintendent John Ambrogi echoed the School Committee’s sentiments on enforcing the current dress code instead of designing a new uniform code of dress policy.

“If we're not going to do this, we need to establish a strict dress code,” he said.

Committee member Jo Eva Gaines said students should be given a voice  during the process of coming up with a revised dress code policy.

“Give the students some ownership in how they look,” she said. “You’d be surprised.”