5220 STUDENT DRESS AND GROOMING STANDARDS

Approved: June 2023

PURPOSE & PHILOSOPHY

Weber District is committed to providing a safe, orderly, and positive environment conducive to teaching and learning. The Board recognizes that dress and grooming affect students' behavior and that there are sanitation and safety factors directly related to proper dress and grooming. The Board seeks to emphasize the importance of school, parent, and student collaboration in encouraging students to come to school dressed appropriately for school work. The District believes that the student and their parent/guardian hold the primary responsibility in determining the students' personal apparel (including clothing, jewelry, bags, accessories, etc.) Schools are responsible for ensuring that student attire, jewelry, and personal items do not interfere with the health or safety of any student and do not contribute to a hostile, disruptive, or intimidating environment for any student or staff.

POLICY

It is the policy of Weber School District to ensure students’ dress and grooming at school comply with the standards outlined below. Violations of the policy will result in corrective action that will not exclude students from school and do not shame a student. While parents are primarily responsible for determining what is appropriate apparel for school, schools have the authority to address and correct violations of this policy where the violation contributes to a health or safety risk, or to a hostile, disruptive, or intimidating environment for other students or staff.

DEFINITIONS

“Apparel” means a combination of all clothing, shoes, jewelry, bags, and accessories
“Costumes” means any apparel worn to look like someone or something else other than the student
“Substantial Disruption” means an interruption to the learning environment that is significant and/or impacts a significant number of students.

DRESS AND GROOMING GUIDING PRINCIPLES

In relation to student dress, school administrators will be guided by the following core values:

Students should be able to dress and style their hair for school in a manner that expresses their individuality without fear of unnecessary discipline or body shaming.
Students have the right to be treated equitably.
Dress code enforcement will not create disparities, reinforce or increase the marginalization of any group, nor will it be more strictly enforced against students because of racial identity, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, cultural or religious identity, household income, body size/type or body maturity.
Students and staff are responsible for managing what may cause them to be distracted or what they find distracting.
Students should not face unnecessary barriers to school attendance.

DISTRICT STUDENT DRESS AND GROOMING MINIMUM STANDARDS

Students must wear:

Tops that have fabric in front (covering the majority of the chest and abdomen), on both sides (under the arms), and in the back (covering the upper and lower back) and straps over both shoulders.
Bottoms that cover the buttocks when standing, sitting, and bending over; and
Footwear that protects the student from injury.
The following is prohibited at school and school activities:
1. Clothing that intentionally shows private parts (nipples, genitals, buttocks) or undergarments. Clothing must cover private parts in opaque (not able to be seen through) material
2. Clothing or attire, jewelry, or personal items that display obscene, vulgar, or lewd words, messages, or pictures or are pornographic
3. Clothing or attire, jewelry, or personal items including attachments, or accessories that could be considered weapons, contain threats or promote violent conduct such as unlawful use of weapons (ie, chains, dog collars with spikes, spurs)
4. Clothing or attire, jewelry, or personal items that advertises or promotes drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or drug paraphernalia
5. Clothing that covers the student’s face to the extent that the student is not identifiable
  1. clothing/headwear worn for a bonafide religious or medical purpose or when directed by health organizations are not subject to this prohibition.
  2. Sunglasses on the face or head when worn pursuant to a physician’s prescription are not subject to this prohibition.
6. Clothing, jewelry, or personal items that demonstrate hate group association/affiliation and/or use hate speech targeting groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or other protected groups
7. Any other grooming or dress that causes actual disruption or which creates a significant safety risk or is disrespectful of others’ religious or cultural beliefs
8. Clothing, jewelry, or personal items that include gang symbols, monikers, insignias, or other gang identifiers
9. Any apparel or style of clothing that school officials, in light of the totality of the circumstances, and after consultation with law enforcement authorities, view denoting gang membership or affiliation
10. Costumes or costume accessories, other than designated holidays as allowed by school administration.

Athletic Uniform Dress Code

Weber School District may not prohibit a student from wearing religious clothing with the athletic uniform; or
wearing clothing under, or with, but not substantially covering, the athletic uniform to, consistent with the student's religious or moral beliefs, cover or conceal parts of the student's body that are not covered or concealed by the athletic uniform.

ENFORCEMENT

Students not in compliance with dress standard policy shall be guaranteed due process and shall be dealt with in a manner consistent with the procedure outlined in the school and district student discipline and safe school policies.
School administrators are required to ensure that all staff are aware of and understand the guidelines of this policy.
Staff will use reasonable efforts to avoid addressing students for dress code violations in front of other students.
Staff shall not prohibit or remove students from class for wearing attire that may be in violation of this policy; rather staff will report their concerns to the administration.
Students shall not be suspended from school unless the attire creates a substantial disruption to the educational environment, poses a hazard to the health or safety of others, or factors into a student behavior rule violation such as malicious harassment or prohibition on harassment, intimidation, bullying, and insubordination.
Violations of this policy may result in:

instruction to the student to leave the classroom briefly to change clothes,
parent/guardian contact or conference

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