DeLand, FL – It’s practically a split decision when it comes to school uniforms in Volusia County.
A new survey conducted by Volusia County Schools shows 49.2% of those who voted want the school district to impose a uniform policy. 46.9% were not in favor another 3.9% had no opinion, according to the results released by VCS on Monday.
21,587 people – mainly teachers, parents and students – responded to that 5-question survey over a nearly 3-week period soon after the school district unveiled it on September 8th.
VCS closed the survey on September 30th, which was available online as well as at open houses scheduled during that month.
Of all those surveyed, parents (62.9%) and teachers (71%) were overwhelmingly in favor of uniforms, with 55.2% of assistant principals also in favor. 70.3% of students and 59.8% of principals surveyed were not in favor.
The survey also showed that 62.1% of responders wanted uniforms across the board from kindergarten to 12th grade instead of requiring some schools to do it but not others.
Of those who didn’t want uniforms, 31.1% said it was because they consider it an infringement of personal expression.
The Volusia County School Board is expected to discuss the results and what to do moving forward during its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday at 4pm.
Every VCSB member has publicly expressed support during meetings for school uniforms for a variety of reasons – mainly having to do with campus safety and a belief that it would reduce bullying and improve student grades and test scores – but all 5 of them also wanted to get public input before making any decisions.
Some VCSB members also argued that uniforms would reduce the number of dress code violations in the long run, especially at the middle schools.
2 ordinance readings will be needed before any policy change is made, according to VCS spokeswoman Nancy Wait.
If a policy change is made, it will likely be announced by Spring Break 2016 so that there’s enough time for everyone to prepare for it, per Wait.
The School Board also dealt with this topic in 2011, with a similar survey done that year showed 67% of parents in favor of a uniform policy. That version of the VCSB ended up passing the current dress code policy.
VCS staff – including Superintendent Tom Russell – urged the board to do the surveys again before making a final decision and also talked about doing a pilot program at select schools before making it apply throughout the district.
VCS has never had a district-wide school uniform policy, but some schools did require its students to wear uniforms in the past.
Only 4 school districts in Florida currently have strict uniform policies, with 1 of those being Flagler County, where the topic has been a constant hot button at School Board meetings.
The FCSB changed its policy in May to allow high school students to wear striped and plaid shirts to class as well as polo shirts in school-specific colors.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.