PROVO — Students at Dixon Middle School in Provo will have a new dress code this fall — but with a couple of compromises.
The dress code committee, school administration and district officials have all agreed to implement the school's proposed dress code policy with two amendments: modest jeans will be allowed, and any school logo can be on shirts, said Dixon Middle principal Rosanna Ungerman, in an interview with the Deseret News on Thursday night.
The originally proposed dress code prohibited jeans and logos of any kind, and required khaki, brown, green, navy or black pants.
The freshly implemented dress code requires students to wear collared shirts, but they can wear a plain T-shirt underneath for the layered look. Shorts or skirts below the knee are allowed. Earrings are the only piercings allowed, but other safe, moderate jewelry is OK. Flip-flops are in but slippers are out.
Ungerman said school officials and the dress code committee opted for the compromise after weighing all areas of input, including the votes of approximately 300 parents, along with surveys of sixth- and seventh-grade students, teachers, PTA members and community council members.
In an unscientific process, the committee determined there was 78 percent support for the original dress code proposal. The committee had previously determined there should be 80 percent support for the measure to pass.
Given this fact, Ungerman, under the guidance of district administration and with suggestion from the dress code committee, opted for a compromise.
"The level of support did send a strong message for establishing a higher dress standard," Ungerman said.
She said the main issue many parents had with the original dress code proposal was the axing of jeans.
"I believe there is still a lot of choice for students to be individuals and express their individuality," Ungerman said.
E-mail: astewart@desnews.com