THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 16, 1994 TAG: 9412160728
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
A proposed dress code for teachers at Ruffner Middle School, intended to help them project a professional image, received a dressing down Thursday by a teachers' representative who said the code would turn school administrators into ``fashion police.''
Charlene Christopher, president of the Education Association of Norfolk, told the School Board that the plan is tinged with elements of racism and sexism and goes too far in trying to dictate what teachers can and cannot wear to class.
Under the proposal, drafted by a committee of six Ruffner teachers with the aid of an image-consultant hired by the school, teachers are discouraged from wearing ``distracting'' clothing or ``exotic'' hairstyles. Leather and denim would be forbidden, for instance, as would the dreadlocks hairstyle popular among African Americans.
Women would have to cover their cleavage and watch their dress hemlines and panty lines. Men would have to avoid trousers that are tight and shirts that stretch over the abdomen.
``The time spent by administrators as fashion police could be spent more productively,'' Christopher said in a prepared statement. ``Instead of checking whether the educators spent time getting a manicure, why not assist with completing some aspect of that day's lesson? EAN urges the administration to put a quick halt to any `charm school' dress code before we have a major morale and personnel problem on our hands.''
School Board members did not question Christopher or comment. Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. said after the meeting that he has not talked with Ruffner Principal Pamela Hoffler-Riddick about the dress code, but that he is concerned that a policy too specific or restrictive would be open to legal challenge.
Last January, for an in-house publication, Nichols wrote an article about the importance of presenting a professional image. In it, he endorsed ``proper dress'' for employees, but stopped short of calling for a mandatory dress code.
The dress-code proposal grew out of efforts by Hoffler-Riddick, in her first year as principal at Ruffner, to improve the public image of the school. Ruffner draws heavily from several of the city's public housing neighborhoods and has developed a reputation as a rough, low-achieving school, she said.
Using about $4,000 in school staff-development funds, Hoffler-Riddick hired an image consultant and sent her teachers to charm school in a series of workshops before the school year began. The idea, she said, was for teachers to pass on lessons in manners and dress to students, many of whom lack such niceties at home.
Hoffler-Riddick said she initiated the project after hearing teachers complain about a lack of respect from students and the community. She also said parents have expressed concern about teachers wearing sloppy or sexually suggestive clothes to school.
``That devalues our authority and weakens our credibility,'' Hoffler-Riddick said. ``This issue is not just with Ruffner or Norfolk public schools, but it is a concern nationwide in public education.''
The standards of dress in the proposed code, Hoffler-Riddick said, are the same adhered to by corporate, mainstream America. Students would have a chance to learn early about dressing for success, she said. ``The issues we at Ruffner have embraced are sensitive to and honor diversity,'' Hoffler-Riddick said. ``The real issue is not ethnicity, but economics. It's not black or white, but green.''
Gloria Coles, a seventh-grade reading teacher who helped draft the code, said most principals have unwritten, informal dress codes for teachers. Attempting to put a dress code into writing at Ruffner has sparked disagreement among teachers, but the idea of having a policy that's clearly understood has support of the majority, Coles said.
Hoffler-Riddick said Christopher's criticism was premature, coming before teachers have their first chance to comment on the plan, at a Monday staff meeting.
``I was blind-sided by this,'' Hoffler-Riddick said.
Christopher gave School Board members copies of an internal memo from Hoffler-Riddick to her faculty in which the principal told teachers that if ``you do not feel you can meet the expectations, a voluntary transfer will need to be considered.''
Hoffler-Riddick said the school plans to hold public meetings, beginning next month, to find out whether parents will support the idea of requiring students to wear uniforms to class. It would be hypocritical, she said, to expect the students to meet dress standards without requiring the same of teachers.
She acknowledged, though, that change can be difficult.
``As an administrator,'' Hoffler-Riddick said, ``sometimes when you're on the cutting edge, you're also on the bleeding edge.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
GUIDELINES
At Ruffner Middle School
For women:
No ``obviously dangling'' earrings.
No patterned hosiery.
For men:
No trousers ``too tight in the seat.''
No shirts ``too tight across abdomen.''
Details, Page B3
SAMPLING OF RULES
A sampling of Ruffner Middle School's proposed eight-page dress
code for teachers:
Goal: ``Project a credible, positive image that is appropriate
for educators' and support staff's duties and environment.''
Clothing for women
If wearing unconstructed top (polo/turtle) a third layer must be
added (jacket, vest, sweater, lab coat or a constructed, tailored
``big shirt'').
Conservative career-style sweaters at all times. Beware that
heavy texture can be too casual. Extreme, oversized styles and
large, bright patterns are distracting.
Conservative, career-style hosiery at all times: plain sheers to
opaque without patterns.
Clothing for men
When not wearing suit with tie, or sports jacket with tie, lab
coat or appropriate sweater with shirt and tie and constructed
slacks, men must wear dress or constructed shirts, ties and
constructed slacks. Vest optional.
Undershirt required if shirt fabric reveals body hair or
anatomy.
Ties: The bottom tip of tie touches belt or top of waist band.
No accessories that create distractions or cause controversy.
Proper fit for women
No cleavage or visible showing of lingerie.
Skirt hems: Short - two to three inches above top of knee when
standing. Long - Bottom of calf muscle. At least seven to nine
inches of leg visible from heel of foot to bottom of hemline.
Maternity: All maternity clothing must be well constructed in
fabric and styles that do not reveal anatomy.
Proper fit for men
Areas of concern: shirts that are too tight across abdomen;
trousers that are too tight in the seat; trousers that are too short
(hem should break slightly across top of shoe front).
Fabrics
Fabric weight must be sufficient to prevent revealing anatomy.
No denim, leather, suede, lacy, transparent, glitz-shiny,
Lycra/or stretch knits, wrinkled or soiled fabrics.
Clothing must be odor-free.
by CNB