Possible Leggings Ban in SMSD

In the fourth floor hallway before school, junior Ashley Allegri hears a conversation as she walks by groups of girls talking. “Are they banning leggings and dance pants or just leggings? What are we going to wear to school?”

“I heard people saying that Olathe and Blue Valley had tried to ban leggings, but it didn’t work,” Allegri said. “I first started to believe them because I could see where they were coming from, but I didn’t really see how they could enforce [the new dress codes].”

Over the past year, leggings and yoga pants have been a popular trend at East. There have been student rumors that the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) was going to ban leggings next school year. Although there have been rumors, Principal Karl Krawitz has no knowledge of this happening at East.

“I have not heard anything [about changing the dress codes], ” Dr. Krawitz said. “I can tell you, I have not had any parents, staff members say a word, no classified staff; I have had no one.”

Although East remains unaffected, school administrators across the country are adding to their dress codes. Some public schools are making their restrictions more firm and there is little room for interpretation. Schools have gone so far as to outlaw certain types of pants a student is allowed to wear at school such as leggings and yoga pants.

For example, in the Henrico Public schools in Virginia, students are restricted from wearing clothing that is “excessively tight or skimpy” according to their district Code of Conduct for the 2011-2012 school year. Students are no longer allowed to wear leggings, yoga pants or any clothing that may expose undergarments. Assistant Principal Lindsay Ingram of Deep Run High school in the Henrico school district declined to comment on regards to the dress code.

“We have not had any problems at East with dress code,” Dr. Krawitz said. “It seems that most of the student body follows the guidelines as they are written.”

In the SMSD, the Board of Education adopts the board policies annually at their organizational meeting held during the first week in July. A student can appeal to the dress codes if they choose. In this case, they would talk to the building administration and then the matter would be referred to the Board of Education.

“I just think [banning leggings] is kind of dumb because I don’t really feel that there is a difference between leggings and skinny jeans,” senior Anna Marken said. “I don’t see why leggings are any more inappropriate than wearing a skirt or a dress.”

Krawitz feels that his experiences with the dress codes at East differentiate from the other schools that he has been at.

“Of the five high schools I have been to, [East] is the one that has not had issues,” Dr. Krawitz said. “I can say one thing since I have been here, I think students here kind of do their own thing. I don’t think that they follow the trending crowd so to speak.”

According to Dr. Krawitz, each Shawnee Mission school does have the right to make their own extending dress codes. Each building administration can add to the dress code policies if they believe that a certain article of clothing or type of clothing is distracting to the learning environment.

There will be no enforced ban of leggings or tight pants for the 2012-2013 school year at East.

“There has been no administrative request to ban any particular type of legging or tight pants,” Associate Superintendent Leigh Anne Neal said. “Students should comport with the established dress code policy.”