I’m tired of my daughter getting picked on by school teachers about her school uniforms. We don’t have that much money, and I find school uniforms to be expensive. One day, one of her teachers got on her case about wearing white socks with a green stripe on top of her socks. I find it ridiculous. She also was called out by the vice principal on her shorts, stating they were too short as they rose up as she walked. He stated “in my opinion, they are too short.” I don’t like opinions, but facts. I told my daughter to put her hands straight down to measure her shorts and her fingertips barely touched the end of her shorts. She was following dress code. I want my daughter exempt from wearing school uniforms. How do I do that? — Mad Mom, El Centro
You definitely have more than one issue here, and it sounds like your daughter’s educators need some sensitivity training, or you and your daughter are taking it all the wrong way. That’s hard to say from over here.
But, rather than going the route of calling the El Centro Elementary School District, we wanted to give our readers the basics as it pertains to all school districts and schools in Imperial County and all over the state.
That fact is, that according to the state Education Code, uniforms simply cannot be forced on students and parents, and there is an exemption mechanism in place for every public school with uniforms, per government regulations, said Elena Castro, who heads up education services for the Imperial County Office of Education. Just as important, Castro was a parent and a principal as uniforms were taking hold at the Calexico Unified School District.
Waivers for school uniforms were built into the ed code for the purposes of religious issues, cost issues and other reasons, she said.
School districts have to draft their policies in accordance with the ed code, and then each school must also have its own policy, also in line with its district. Any school that has uniforms has to have had them voted in by a majority of the parents.
Castro said that is why you never see public high schools with uniforms, as teenagers are good at convincing their parents not to vote for it.
That said, any school that does adopt uniforms must also have a uniform bank in place, in which students can temporarily borrow the uniforms.
To get an exemption — and it’s different for every school — speak to the administration of your school. Castro said administrators will attempt to dissuade you from opting out, but you must be given that choice.
You definitely have more than one issue here, and it sounds like your daughter’s educators need some sensitivity training, or you and your daughter are taking it all the wrong way. That’s hard to say from over here.
But, rather than going the route of calling the El Centro Elementary School District, we wanted to give our readers the basics as it pertains to all school districts and schools in Imperial County and all over the state.
That fact is, that according to the state Education Code, uniforms simply cannot be forced on students and parents, and there is an exemption mechanism in place for every public school with uniforms, per government regulations, said Elena Castro, who heads up education services for the Imperial County Office of Education. Just as important, Castro was a parent and a principal as uniforms were taking hold at the Calexico Unified School District.
Waivers for school uniforms were built into the ed code for the purposes of religious issues, cost issues and other reasons, she said.
School districts have to draft their policies in accordance with the ed code, and then each school must also have its own policy, also in line with its district. Any school that has uniforms has to have had them voted in by a majority of the parents.
Castro said that is why you never see public high schools with uniforms, as teenagers are good at convincing their parents not to vote for it.
That said, any school that does adopt uniforms must also have a uniform bank in place, in which students can temporarily borrow the uniforms.
To get an exemption — and it’s different for every school — speak to the administration of your school. Castro said administrators will attempt to dissuade you from opting out, but you must be given that choice.
