DeLand, FL – Volusia County Schools continues ahead with possible plans to have all of its students in uniforms by next school year.
The Volusia County School Board plans to continue talking to students, teachers and administrators about a possible shift in the uniform policy, sparked in part by a recently completed survey result on that topic.
During Tuesday night’s regularly scheduled meeting, all 5 VCSB members committed to going to schools in their respective districts over the next 2 weeks so they can hear from those it would affect the most, especially at the high schools.
That suggestion was made by Vice-Chairwoman Ida Wright, who also said during the meeting that some high school students have suggested to her that they be allowed to have a certain dress code based on what academy they happen to be in.
Other board members also brought up the idea of letting students do special themed shirt days, such as for colleges or for the school’s sports teams or clubs.
Those comments were made following a staff presentation that went over the survey results and how other Florida districts do school uniforms, especially in Flagler.
49.2% of those who voted in the survey wanted 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, students, and administrators – 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 non-scientific 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, though school district staff did point out during the meeting that 196 survey responders labeled themselves as principals. The school district only has 70 principals total, leading the staff to believe that someone tried to skew the results in that particular category intentionally.
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.
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.
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.
VCS has never had a district-wide school uniform policy, but some schools did require its students to wear uniforms in the past.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.