Dress code changes coming to Graham schools

After much discussion among the Graham Independent School District Board of Trustees Monday, new amendments were accepted for the 2019-2020 GISD Dress and Grooming Code.

A subcommittee of three GISD Board of Trustees was created on Wednesday, May 8 during the school board meeting held at Graham High School, to reevaluate the GISD dress code policies.

During the meeting Monday, the board was presented the suggested changes by the subcommittee. The subcommittee also met with Graham Junior High School Principal Ginger Robbins, High School Principal Joe Gordy and Cruse. The subcommittee also reviewed additional information sent out to the community.

Dress code amendments

Appropriate grooming
One change was made in the code under the Appropriate Grooming section which added hair must be a natural color along with being clean, neatly groomed and worn in a style that does not cover the eyes.

Inappropriate grooming
The first change to the code under the Inappropriate Grooming section was the elimination of a portion which said, “Neon or other hair colorings or bleaching, whether permanent or temporary, in a shade or tone that the principal determines to be unnatural, such as neon orange, neon pink, magenta, any shade of blue, any shade of green, violet, purple, white.”
The portion following this section about “Hair coloring or bleaching for the purpose of creating extreme differences,” had two sections in the original code with one about individual strands of hair and one about the tone between the students natural and original hair color. This was shortened to one section which said, “Hair coloring or bleaching for the purpose of creating extreme differences in color, shade, or tone (i.e. ‘color blocking’) between areas of hair on the head.”
The last sentence of the Inappropriate Grooming section was changed to include patterns cut into eyebrows along with hair, which includes a mohawk, partially shaved heads, eyebrows and more.

Inappropriate or unacceptable attire
One change was made in the Inappropriate or Unacceptable Attire section, which was the addition that blankets are not considered outerwear and are not appropriate for school.

Jewelry, tattoos, body piercing
Under the section called Jewelry, Tattoos, Body Piercings, the board made their first change in the section about facial jewelry. The board eliminated the word ‘spacers’ from the code and changed the code to read, “Tapers or gauges or any other device that serves the same function, such as, but not limited to ropes, coins, strings etc. may not be worn.”

For the rest of the story, see the Saturday, July 6 edition of The Graham Leader.