THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200350
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
In a first for the city's public schools, teachers at Ruffner Middle on Monday approved a formal dress code that spells out in eight pages of detail what they can and cannot wear to work.
The action came despite criticism from the president of a professional teachers organization, who last week urged the School Board to kill the plan on grounds it was too restrictive, was unnecessary and was tinged with sexism and racism.
Whether the code would survive any legal challenge by a disgruntled teacher is unclear.
Teachers met behind closed doors for nearly three hours to scrutinize a draft of the dress standards, discussing and voting on each item. The majority ruled.
The policy will take effect at the beginning of the 1995-96 school year, said Principal Pamela Hoffler-Riddick.
``I think we can all live with it,'' said Ronald Myers, a music teacher at the school. ``We did it democratically.''
``It serves the purpose of the school and the professional image we want to project,'' said Timothy Wright, an art teacher. ``There may be a few who disagree, but they're in the minority now. It's not just for the teachers, but for the students and the public as well.''
Hoffler-Riddick, in her first year at the school, hired a consultant to help draft the dress code in hopes of enhancing Ruffner's public image, which she said is an unflattering picture of the school as undisciplined and low-achieving.
Many of Ruffner's students are drawn from several public-housing neighborhoods and could benefit from being exposed to how corporate, mainstream America dresses for success, Hoffler-Riddick said.
Next month, the school will meet with parents to gauge interest in requiring students to wear uniforms.
``Ruffner Middle has decided wholeheartedly to change its image,'' Hoffler-Riddick said Monday. ``The way teachers dress has an impact on the way students and the public view our credibility and authority.''
It was the specificity of the document that raised concerns, including objections presented to the School Board by Charlene Christopher, president of the local Education Association of Norfolk. The group represents about 1,700 teachers and other employees in the city's schools.
Two teachers who refused to give their names angrily stalked out of Monday's meeting at Ruffner.
``If she wants this school, she can have it,'' one of the teachers said, referring to Hoffler-Riddick. ``This is ridiculous,'' said the other.
Christopher, who said last week that she opposed a mandatory code, sounded conciliatory Monday. Her primary concern, she said, was that the faculty be given a voice.
``It was a faculty decision and not something imposed on them by the administration, that's what's important,'' Christopher said. ``If they were able to reach a consensus, then I think we accomplished what we wanted to see.''
The code adopted Monday discourages ``distracting'' clothing and forbids such ``exotic hairstyles'' as dreadlocks.
Teachers voted, however, to permit the wearing of leather and suede, which were banned in a draft document prepared by a committee of teachers and the image consultant, Mary Jane Barnes of Image Management in Virginia Beach.
Also eliminated were items under personal hygiene and grooming that dictated the length of women's fingernails and the acceptable distance that perfume and shaving lotion could be smelled.
Male teachers will be expected to wear ties and shirts and pants that are not too tight or that reveal the anatomy or body hair. Female teachers will have to wear ``conservative'' dresses no shorter than 2 to 3 inches above the knee and will have to cover their cleavage and avoid panty lines.
Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. said Monday that some of the dress rules were ``too specific for my liking,'' but he indicated he would abide by the faculty's decision. In a growing trend nationwide, the school operates by ``site-based'' management techniques, meaning that teachers help determine policies.
``If the faculty of that school agrees that's how they want to dress, I'm not going to get in the way,'' Nichols said.
KEYWORDS: DRESS CODE by CNB