Sigh...Dress Code Committee

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Uggghhhh...My employer has decided to create a dress code. I get to enforce it. I don't mind enforcing it, but I hate being asked my opinion on it. I was raised in an incredibly strict household and though I've let go of a lot of my judgementalness thy developed from that, appropriate dress is still an area I'm quite conservative and strict in. I wish my boss had just decided to write the policy and hand it over for me to enforce But no, we had to have a committee and share our opinions. And now my staff will know I don't think jeans are professional for work. And if teachers want to be treated like professionals, they should dress professionally.I'm okay if they like me less for it; I'm new to the district and wanted the honeymoon period to last longer is all.

Okay that's my vent. Here's my question:

Do you think it's appropriate for teachers to wear jeans to work?
What about aides?
Reasons?

Please, I beg of you, don't turn this into a teacher bashing thread.

I don't have time to get on here during the day, so I'll be back tomorrow night.

[Tennesseer]

Probably no jeans for teachers and aides. Business casual is more than acceptable. Whether we want it or not, teachers have to look professional and set examples for their students.

[maraqxa]

Sept 12, 2012 22:53:59 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Probably no jeans for teachers and aides. Business casual is more than acceptable. Whether we want it or not, teachers have to look professional and set examples for their students.

[Phoenix84]

Agree, business casual is the way to go for teachers.

[Deleted]

I guess it depends on what kind of teacher you want. If you want one that gets down and dirty and paints, etc. with the kids, blows up a volcano, drops mentos in diet coke... then ...

We only wore jeans on special occasions when i taught public, dress down fridays, etc. But if I had a school, we'd all wear jeans if we wanted to ...

Jeans and a school shirt sounds good.

[Deleted]

"set an example' of what exactly? And this isn't snarky... its the key point as far as i'm concerned.

[whoisjohngalt]

As bad as it sounds, I would be OK with man teachers wearing jeans but not women. My guess is you won't be able to make that into a policy, so I say "no" to jeans.

Aides? Well, I guess I don't see why their dress code should be any different.....

Lena

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Sept 12, 2012 23:00:19 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Maybe require that when they wear jeans, they need to wear a school shirt?

This is the way the superintendent is leaning.

Yes, students are allowed to wear jeans. I'd prefer uniforms for students--both as a parent and educator-- but that's a different thread

In my original post and this one, please excu the typos. I'm on the iPad and too tired to fix everything.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 12, 2012 23:04:58 GMT -5 oped said:

"set and example' of what exactly? And this isn't snarky... its the key point as far as i'm concerned.

I know it's not snarky.

I assumed the school kids don't wear uniforms. So the first thing that came to my mind was baggy pants. So the example is showing students how to dress and look professional in a business environment (the school).

Just my opinion.

[Deleted]

See, i don't see a school necessarily as a 'business environment' . I see it as a 'learning environment'. I think a good teacher should set a good example for embracing life and learning and exploration and cognition. I do that much better in jeans than in businesswear, personally.

[Tennesseer]

Have a 'Jeans Day' for the teachers. A buck or two to wear jeans. I like the idea of dress jeans with a school shirt. It can look quite smart.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Oped, I do think those things should happen, but I also believe they can be done in Walmart Khakis.

As far as an example, here are my thoughts: I live in a rural, high poverty, high drug use, high unemployment area. If you've heard the term generational poverty, this area is its epitome. part of this subculture is dressing in torn, dirty, mismatched clothes at all finctionsn including weddings, graduations, etc. it's one thing when you've been out bucking hay all day and you have to go to the store for something real quick, but that type of clothing shouldn't be the norm.
Many teachers are from this area, but i want them to set the example that presentation of one's self IS important.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Sept 12, 2012 23:08:52 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

I love having uniforms... makes life so much easier.

Abso-freaking-lutely.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 12, 2012 23:12:44 GMT -5 oped said:

See, i don't see a school necessarily as a 'business environment' . I see it as a 'learning environment'. I think a good teacher should set a good example for embracing life and learning and exploration and cognition. I do that much better in jeans than in businesswear, personally.

Hey all my teachers wore these so I am probably not the best person to recommend a teacher's garb.

[Deleted]

I can see not wearning torn, dirty or mismatched clothes. But sometimes these things require baby steps. You don't want to set a teacher up as too much of an 'other' either, someone so outside of the realm of their 'normal' that its unrelatable or unatainable.

... although really wal mart kahkis are not that bad i'd guess. What exactly would the dress code state? Just no jeans? Would there be exceptions for different events?

[Deleted]

I have never worked in a school that allowed jeans to be worn every day. It has only been on Fridays that we were allowed to wear them.

I am not a fan of uniforms at all for students. I know it is easier for the parents, but I just don't like them. Thankfully my kids never had to go to a school that required them.

ETA: I did get to wear jeans more than just Fridays last year since I worked in a Life Science lab. We took the students outside to the stream and woods a lot. I also worked with chemicals so I was allowed to wear jeans on those days.

[weltschmerz]

As bad as it sounds, I would be OK with man teachers wearing jeans but not women.
----------------
Why would it be OK for men but not women? Jeans are jeans.
I don't think either should wear jeans unless its a fundraiser.

[Sharon]

At DD's schools the teachers only wore jeans on certain days, field trip day (pumpkin patch day), or field games day, that type of thing. In high school some of the teachers would wear jeans on pep assembly day along with a school shirt, or during spirit week. On game day the athletes and coaches were required to dress up even more than usual.

ETA: Have you looked into what neighboring or comparable school districts require.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Lol, tenneseer ;D

Oped, The superintendent has been directed by the board to write the dress code. So, it doesn't exist yet. We have, as Sharon also thought of, got neighboring districts' policies.msome are stricter than others. Jeans policies vary.

The sticking point for a lot of people is jeans an T-shirts. Some people want piercings and tattoos to be addressed, but because nothing other than the word distracting is involved in the current discussion, the loud protestors arent as concerned about that one.

I have stated to my boss that on school spirit days when the school tshirts are expected o be worn, jeans should be allowed then also. Those days are on Fridays 99% of the time.

[Loopdilou]

Jeans are fine for teachers and aides!

[lynnerself]

Not related to teachers, but at my work the administration total passed the ball to the supervisors so they wouldn't be the bad guys.
And then a bunch of conservative thinkers hijacked the committee.
With rules like no heels higher than 2 inches and no tennis shoes with unmatching laces.
The funny thing was everyone in the clinic could name the employee that prompted each new rule (no tight skirts, no leggings without a dress etc.)

[Deleted]

Lena, Why are you against female teachers wearing jeans?

[Deleted]

Oh and I have to say that I love the school district here. I thought I would have a hard time getting hired because of my nose stud, but then I went in and met my son's Biology teacher...she has her eyebrow pierced and her lower lip. Several teachers here have nose piercings as do many people in other professions. It isn't looked at as a big deal at all.

In Michigan I had to take out my nose piercing to do my student teaching. In Kansas I could have worn it but I never did. Now it is back in full time and I don't plan on taking it out.

[doxieluvr]

Why are jeans a big deal? As long as one has clean, properly fitting jeans, it should be no issue with wearing them daily. While we are on the subject... We have purple Fridays that consist of wearing jeans and jerseys. Why is it a big deal to wear athletic shoes?

[Deleted]

Teachers should absolutely NOT wear jeans. A friend of mine is a teacher in a public school and he wears dress shirt, tie, pants and dress shoes every day. He said it simply commands more respect and is professional. And, isn't it time for schools to show they are serious about education and standards? What would be wrong with having professionally dressed teachers? I think men should wear polo shirts or button down with tie. Women, dresses, slacks or blouse. No flip flops, jeans or sweatshirts. And it is fine to have occasional dress down days for teachers to show school spirit. Take this as opportunity to improve the school. And, you don't have to become the clothes Nazi or be rude about it until this really sinks. But, it is FAR easier to enact stricter standards up front and then relax them than it is to have lax standards and try to become stricter. And, just be reasonable about it. Teachers don't need to wear Armani suits or anything like that and some subjects like art or chemistry are messy. They could wear lab coats or aprons to cover. And, you don't want to scold the employees like little children. Have a meeting, get the teachers On board and yes there will be people who resist, but try to make this a positive message to convey the quality of your district to the community. And, get the teachers on board by valuing them and this is a way that you will further demonstrate what you already know which is their professionalism.

[Deleted]

As for athletic shoes, i think those should be fine but i would just specify black. Try to keep the dress code pretty simple and easy to do.

[whoisjohngalt]

Lena, Why are you against female teachers wearing jeans?

Well, bc women's jeans tend to be all kinds of shapes and designs with all kinds of words printed on it and I don't think it's very professional. If you allow female teachers to wear jeans, you can't exactly say "you can only wear style X". Also, by wearing certain shoes you can make jeans look even more unprofessional. And I don't think that's the direction they should be going

Lena

[wvugurl26]

They do make jeans for females that I would deem work appropriate. And I've seen guy jeans with all kinds of crap written all over them, usually worn low enough to show off the guy's underwear as well.

[973beachbum]

Personally i think teachers should be dressed professionally. I say this as someone in the land of 9 month a year shorts and flip flops when you walk into any CPA or engineer's office.

I agree that you can make it both professional and simple. One school by me had a business only, dress pant sand tops, dress code with one exception. They had a list of approved alternatives. The approved list of was khakis and school polo shirts. They didn't have to be expensive but they did have to fit the list. Jean were not be on that list.

Certain teachers could get exceptions based on what they taught. So PE teachers could wear athletic clothes when gym was in session and field trips etc were allowed to wear casual clothes. But they had to get it approved in advance. This rule stopped 99% of the non compliance. Everyone knew what was really going on so since it had to be approved no one would ask if it wasn't legitimate.

The only exceptions were the Friday jeans fundraisers. They cost $5, which went 100% to charity. the other school exception were for schools that didn't have AC. If the temps got above a certain point an email went out to tell everyone they could wear shorts and light tops. The tops had to be appropriate and the shorts had to be the Bermuda type not Daisy Dukes or jeans etc.

[zibazinski]

Is this an elem school? Elems dressed more casually than upper grades because of the kids and playgrounds and stuff like that. Middle and high school dressed better. Except for PE of course. The aides that worked with children who might have "issues" also dressed in easy to wash clothes as well as having other clothes on hand. I understand what you are getting at but you have to figure out what works at what levels. No way would I expect a teacher in a dress to climb up and get a student who is now stuck on top of some equipment on the playground.