THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501230193
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Doris Salter ran her fingers approvingly over the pleated wool and polyester ``skort,'' a combination skirt-short, on display Saturday in the Ruffner Middle School auditorium.
``It's good quality. I like them,'' Salter said of the ``preppie'' look. ``It feels good to dress nice. My daughter's all for it.''
With that, Salter summed up her family's opinion of an increasingly popular trend in public education: outfitting school kids in uniforms.
At the start of next school year, don't be surprised to see Ruffner join suit.
Principal Pamela Hoffler-Riddick is sold on the idea, convinced that a school's climate and learning environment are influenced by what children wear to class.
Many of the approximately 40 parents who attended a two-hour meeting Saturday to discuss the pros and cons agreed.
``I support this 100 percent,'' said Nancy Cooley, whose daughter is a Ruffner sixth-grader. ``For those people who think uniforms are a form of control - jail is control. I think we need less self-expression and more discipline.''
``I am all for uniforms,'' said Sheryl Brennel, mother of a sixth-grade boy. ``I don't think my son's for them, but that's tough. We send these students here to learn. We don't send them here to care about what other kids have on.''
Some parents were skeptical of the need for uniforms. A big worry, even among supporters, was the cost.
``I cannot afford it, and I don't mind saying so,'' said parent Carol Fernandez. ``I don't care if she's in style. She's in my style.''
Hoffler-Riddick said a ``uniform package'' - consisting of shirts, pants, skorts, a tie and scarf, shorts and sweater or jacket - could cost between $100 to $300. She noted that a single pair of name-brand tennis shoes runs $150.
Supporters suggested that the school could hold fund-raisers to help parents who can't afford uniforms.
Ruffner seventh-grader Maria Hamby said she was undecided about uniforms but that many students had concerns.
``It's going to get really boring,'' Hamby said. ``It's taking away their (students') freedom to choose what they want to wear.''
The debate at Ruffner occurs as state legislators are expected to take up legislation that would allow local school districts to require that students wear uniforms.
For Hoffler-Riddick, in her first year at Ruffner, uniforms are a key element in her plan to raise student achievement and transform the image of the inner-city school. Teachers in December approved their own dress code in anticipation of asking students to wear uniforms.
A majority of the 1,012 students who attend Ruffner are from poor households, school records show. Uniforms would help eliminate the taunts or unequal treatment endured by students who can't afford the latest styles, Hoffler-Riddick said.
Parents testified to that.
``I hope you all are with me on these uniforms, because the focus will not be on material things but on achieving better grades,'' said parent Josette Hayes-Scott.
``It really builds up their self-esteem,'' said parent Betty Clark, who has a child at Bowling Park Elementary, the first school in Norfolk to experiment with uniforms in the late 1980s. Douglass Park Elementary in Portsmouth is the only other school in South Hampton Roads where students wear uniforms.
A survey given to 450 Ruffner students last fall revealed that 85 percent would wear uniforms if they were given a choice of what they looked like, Hoffler-Riddick said.
Depending on the level of support, Hoffler-Riddick said the idea could be brought into the school gradually, beginning with a cluster of students who volunteered.
The principal handed out a survey to parents Saturday asking them if they supported uniforms. If results are favorable, Hoffler-Riddick said she will make her case to city school administrators. A uniform policy wouldn't take effect until the 1995-96 school year. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STUDENT UNIFORMS AT RUFFNER
Fall 1995 would be the earliest that students would begin wearing
uniforms. Initially, if the issue proves divisive, only those
students who volunteer to wear uniforms might participate.
Students and parents ultimately would decide what their uniforms
look like and how much they cost.
A uniform package - consisting of shirts, pants, skorts, tie or
scarf, shorts and sweater and/or jacket - would cost from $100 to
$300.
A sample of uniforms on display at Ruffner Middle Saturday
included white button-down shirts and navy blue pants for boys and
white blouses and pleated ``skorts'' in plaids and solid colors for
girls.
KEYWORDS: DRESS CODES PUBLIC SCHOOLS RUFFNER MIDDLE SCHOOL by CNB