R.O. Hardin Elementary School on Wednesday will become the first
campus in the Hollister district to have a uniform policy, though
voluntary because California bars public institutions from
enforcing the rules or penalizing those who decline
participation.
R.O. Hardin Elementary School on Wednesday will become the first campus in the Hollister district to have a uniform policy, though voluntary because California bars public institutions from enforcing the rules or penalizing those who decline participation.
Wednesday is the first day of school in the district. Students at the K-6 school on Line Street in Hollister are asked to wear khaki or navy-blue pants or skirts, along with white shirts.
Principal Aggie Obeso-Bradley spurred the school’s change. She had been thinking of developing uniform guidelines since she arrived three years ago. She pointed out there is a relatively high Hispanic population at the school – noting how uniforms are more common at schools in Mexico and that some parents had asked about the prospect.
“I had to get to know the culture and the community before I made a decision,” she said.
The principal also had to get support from the Hollister School District Board of Trustees. She started the process in February or March, she said, getting approval from the school board and moving ahead with a survey of parents, which showed that about 95 percent of them were supportive of the change. Such policies need approval at least six months before the affected school year, according to the education code.
The school held a few meetings with parents and sent notices home before a parental vote in April.
Obeso-Bradley said she thought the uniforms are “a neat changeover” that will make learning the focus.
“Our main concern for everyone, whether you wear a uniform or not, is learning,” she said.
R.O. Hardin teacher Gina Munoz noted that even in second grade where she teaches, students wear low-cut pants and short shirts.
“It’s hard to tell the parents they can’t wear that,” she said.
Supporters will see the “results” of the initiative Wednesday, when they find out how many students are in uniform, Munoz said.
“For the kids, I think it keeps them more focused on the curriculum and what they’re here for, than on style and dress and the gang thing,” Munoz said.
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
Excerpts from Education Code section 35183:
(d) A dress code policy that requires pupils to wear a schoolwide uniform shall not be implemented with less than six months’ notice to parents and the availability of resources to assist economically disadvantaged pupils.
(e) The governing board shall provide a method whereby parents may choose not to have their children comply with an adopted school uniform policy.
(f) If a governing board chooses to adopt a policy pursuant to this section, the policy shall include a provision that no pupil shall be penalized academically or otherwise discriminated against nor denied attendance to school if the pupil’s parents chose not to
have the pupil comply with the school uniform policy. The governing board shall continue to have responsibility for the appropriate education of those pupils.
(g) A policy adopted pursuant to this section shall not preclude pupils that participate in a nationally recognized youth organization from wearing organization uniforms on days that the organization has a scheduled meeting.
