Students at Southeast Bulloch Middle and High schools won’t have to change their wardrobe in the fall.
No Bulloch County school board member made a motion when a proposed stricter dress code came up for final approval during the regular meeting Thursday evening. That meant the measure died with no discussion.
Proposed revisions to the code allowed students to wear polo, button-up, crew-neck or turtle-neck shirts and khaki or denim pants, shorts or skirts. Also, shorts or skirts were required to be no higher than 4 inches above the bended knee.
Southeast Bulloch High Principal Dr. Trey Robertson said after the meeting he was surprised the proposal did not make it to a vote. He said that while students, teachers, staff and parents indicated they generally favored the revised dress code, the school would follow the existing dress code for the foreseeable future.
Robertson told the board at its last meeting, when the measure was granted initial approval, the school community spent two months discussing and coming to a consensus on a stricter dress code.
Student attire was an unnecessary distraction for school staff in recent years, the principal told the board, particularly with girls wearing yoga pants and low-cut blouses. The school system’s dress code as currently written lists clothing items that can’t be worn, but Robertson said some students find something that is not on the list.
At the last meeting, board member Mike Herndon suggested it might be better to adopt a revised dress code for the entire district, not just two schools. But no board members said anything about the dress code Thursday in allowing the proposal to die.
Jason Wermers may be reached at (912) 489-9431.