Dress code approved, to begin with 2008-09 school year

Students of Shawnee’s Jim Thorpe Academy, the school district’s alternative education facility, will don new apparel with the beginning of the 2008-09 school year.
In an effort to eliminate gang-affiliated and inappropriate attire, as well as focus students’ energy on education, the school’s faculty has devised a dress code in an attempt to unify the student body.
“We’ve done all kinds of things to try to get to this point; to equalize the kids and get them focused on learning,” Debra Watson, Jim Thorpe Academy’s director, told Shawnee Board of Education members this week.
The dress code will limit the type of clothing students are allowed to wear and emphasizes doing away with clothing that can be considered gang-affiliated or too revealing.
“This is something we have not come to lightly,” she said.
Watson said the faculty has worked to eliminate “barriers to learning.” This work includes making sure Jim Thorpe Academy students are learning from the same books Shawnee High School students are using; and making sure that discipline is enforced.
Watson told board members that the faculty has not “reinvented the wheel” with the dress code changes. They are trying to redirect students’ attention and focus.
Gang-related issues are prevalent in the community, Watson said, and the problem is not isolated to youth.
“It’s not just our teenagers,” she said. “The parents will come in with gang clothing. It’s part of our culture.”
Many youth today are looking for love and acceptance, Watson said, and find it by joining a gang. Watson said her goal is to encourage the students to join her gang.
“I have some place for them to be,” she said. “We want them to be the Jim Thorpe gang. You want to be a part of a gang; be part of something? We’d like for them to be a part of school.”
Watson said the idea has been presented to students, and they seem receptive to the idea. One, in fact, constructed a PowerPoint presentation that Watson shared with board of education members.
“Uniforms identify students as part of the school’s academic body,” the presentation read. “Safety is the key. Education is the issue.”
“None of them have even questioned why we’re doing this,” Watson said of her students.
Watson said research statistics show that unifying student wardrobe removes distractions, helps students concentrate on school work and helps faculty recognize intruders.
Watson said she does not want her students to view the change as punishment. She does not want them to feel their freedoms are being infringed. Teachers at the school reflect this desire.
“The dress code is not an attempt to eliminate individuality, but to show that there are appropriate ways to present oneself in public,” said Rodger Shell, a teacher at Jim Thorpe Academy. “We’re just asking them to be civil.”
Shell and other educators from the school approached the Shawnee Board of Education wearing the types of clothes allowed in the dress code. These include solid-colored, collared shirts and khaki pants.
Watson said many students do not know what is appropriate.
“If there is a unified look, we can focus on behaviors and learning,” said Kelli Rinish, a teacher at Jim Thorpe Academy.
Rinish said a student’s No. 1 job is school.
Watson asked, “Are we overreacting to some of the things that are going on within our community?”
She presented a short video clip to illustrate potential problems with a lackadaisical dress code. A young man on the video, wearing loose blue jeans and a collared T-shirt, was shown removing one firearm after another from his clothing; including a full-length shotgun and a submachine gun.
Photographs were shown of knives and razors, as well as drugs, confiscated from Jim Thorpe Academy students.
Watson said she has learned that many schools are jumping on the idea of a strictly enforced dress code, primarily to address gang-related problems.
“I don’t like to work harder. I like to work smarter,” Watson said.
Watson said implementing the dress code will not be easy, but it is another piece of making the students’ educational experience better.
Superintendent Marilyn Bradford said the presentation of the revised dress code is not an issue requiring action from the board of education. The changes will appear in the student handbook for the 2008-09 school year.
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Jason Smith may be reached at 214-3932 or william.j.smith@news-star.com.