Case Study: Dress Code

Shanaye Packineau-Williams

Grand Canyon University: EAD-519

March 17th, 2021

Part 1: Case Analysis

Respond to the case study by addressing the following:

1. Brief summary of the case:
As an assistant principal at a suburban high school that is 9th-12th grade and has 2,400
students. I am just finishing up my first year at the school. I am given the task to
update the dress code for the upcoming school year. Along with updating the dress
code, I am also in charge of the consequences that follow. Another task that I am
given is ensuring that students are wearing the ID cards, on lanyards, always
throughout the school-day. The last time the dress code was ever updated was about
ten years ago. The policy that in place now sends students to in-school suspension
(ISS) where they are asked to change their clothes, put a sweater on, turn clothes
inside out, or call their parents for an extra change of clothes. After a student gets
three referrals for this, they will have a consequence. Teacher’s have trouble
enforcing the policy, and don’t want to deal with attitudes, so they ignore the dress
code and ID policy, making tracking difficult/inaccurate. A lot of students have their
ID cards in their back packs, pockets, or purses and do not actually wear them. The
ID requirement is for safety, so it cannot be changed.
Identify the issues to be resolved:
There are a few issues to be resolved. The first issue to find out is what is holding
back the dress code policy to be enforced, and how can we get teacher buy-in to
enforce it, along with enforcing the ID cards. Another issue to resolve is the number
of violations for each.
2. Stakeholders involved in the issues:
The stake holder involved in the issues are the students, administrations, teachers, and
the parents.
3. One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues
One existing law that relates to this issue is Blane v Board of Education: “The Board of
Education of Haysville Unified School District No. 261, Sedgwick County, Kansas,
expelled three students from attending Campus High School until such time as
compliance with a hair length regulation was demonstrated. The students, appellants
herein, refused to comply and they exhausted those administrative remedies which have
been provided by the legislature for suspensions or expulsions. (See K.S.A. 1971 Supp.
72-8901 et seq.) No question is raised concerning the sufficiency of the administrative
proceedings afforded these students under the statute. The expulsions were based upon
willful violations of school regulations relating to the length of the hair of male
students.”

Blaine v. Board of Education. Justia Law. (2021). https://law.justia.com/cases/kansas/supreme-

court/1972/46-782-1.html.
4. District policies that relate to the issues:
Guidelines
 Must not include pajamas/lounge wear.
 Must not include undergarments** worn as outer garments.
 Must not include any reference to a gang or contribute to an atmosphere of threat,
intimidation or negative peer pressure.
 Must not include any defamatory writing, obscene language or symbols,
images, reference tobacco, drugs, alcohol, nudity, sexual in nature, violence, or
weapons.
 Must not create an exposure in violation of any of the above guidelines when
sitting, or standing.
 Must not display anything that is otherwise illegal to possess at school.
 Hoods should not be worn during instructional time or when requested not to by a
staff member.
 Clothing should have adequate coverage to allow a full range of movement without
undergarments showing.
The accessory can be confiscated, which can be picked up at the end of the day.

*A.R.S. 15-712 permits instruction on the nature and harmful effects of alcohol,
drugs, and tobacco.  It is illegal for minors to possess these substances.  Clothing
or accessories that display these substances or are deemed to advocate or
encourage the use of these substances are counterproductive to the District’s
curriculum goals and educational objectives.  These items are, therefore,
prohibited. (Dysart Unified School District 2021)

Student Dress Code - Grades K-12. (2021). https://www.dysart.org/Sites/default.aspx?

pgid=98.

5. Possible solutions to the issues:

Some possible solutions could be to involve a team of stake holders to update the
dress code policy. Another solution could be to update the policy by myself. A final
solution could be to put together a team of teachers, and administration to update the
dress code policy.
The solutions chosen to resolve the issues:
The solution that I chose to resolve the issues is to involve a team of stakeholders to
update the dress code policy. This team will include: students, teachers, parents,
and administration. Together they will evaluate the ID card policy and the dress
 code policy. They will brainstorm how to enforce the policies, and how to have
student/teacher buy-in for the policies. This will include all perspectives to come up
with the right representation on how to go about these policies. After this is done,
the administration can look it over, and create a final ID card, and dress code policy.
Action steps (2-5) for implementing each solution, including a timeline for each
step:
Action step 1: Create the team of stakeholders (students, parents, teachers, and
administration). This would be done by the last day of school.
Action Step 2: Set a schedule for the team of stakeholders to meet by the beginning
of June (Find a date that works for all stakeholders’ schedule)
Action Step 3: Meet with the committee the month of June/beginning of July.
Action Step 4: Present Plan to building staff and the leaders by the middle of July.
5. Present the policies to the Board of Education for the approval, and to put it in
the handbook before school starts in August.

6. Potential moral and legal consequences of each solution:

Dress code policies are not going to please everyone. The committee of stakeholders
is going to be fair, and ensure that the policies are non-discriminating and are legal.
The school will have a plan in place to make sure that these policies are enforces
with fairness for all.
Part 2: Rationale

Student dress code is an issue that all administrators have to deal with throughout their

careers, especially in this day and age. Leaders need to be sure to handle this with care, thinking

about our vision at our school, and our stakeholders that it affects. By doing so, this will ensure

that we are keeping the ethics that we value, and that we are fair for all parties involved. By

allowing a group of stakeholders to help make this decision, it allows perspectives from all sides

to make sure that we are creating these policies with fairness, and using integrity through this

communication. This falls under the ELCC standard 1.1: Candidates understand and can

collaboratively develop, articulate, implement, and steward a shared vision of learning for a

school. (NPBEA, 2011)

 As a leader, we need to ensure that we are providing the students their rights express

themselves. The freedom of speech, and the freedom of religion are big in this case. When we

are making the dress code policy, we need to really take this into consideration, thinking about

how students express themselves, and how they identify themselves.

The best approach to go about this is to involve our stakeholders that this affects the

most. This allows the school to get perspectives from all, and will help with the accountability

when it comes to being enforced. By including the stakeholders that these policies affect, it will

allow ownership and will help with the enforcement of the policies from all aspects. By allowing

teachers, they will also have more buy-in to enforce the policies as well by giving them a voice

so that they will follow through on their end. When involving all the stakeholders in the decision,

it provides everyone with an understanding of the expectation for future occurrences and allows

all parties to understand the high expectations set forth at our school. The policies should be

reviewed yearly by the group of stakeholders to ensure that we are making revisions as needed.