Uniforms in WCC Schools
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Uniforms in WCC Schools
Sept 2009
My child just started kindergarten in a WCCUSD school that has a
uniform policy. I thought the uniform policy was district-wide,
but the other day I happened to drive past another school as it
was letting out and I noticed that the kids were uniform-less.
Then another friend mentioned to me that her child's school
abandoned their uniform requirements.
Are the WCCUSD schools moving away from uniforms? I'm not a
uniform idealogue--I can go with the flow. But my kid has this
habit of growing all the time so I'm forever on the hunt for good
deals on polo shirts, etc. If the uniforms are being phased out,
I won't bother.
uniform hunter
We have put 2 of our kids thru the WCCUSD and have our third in K, I was told the
district is in no way phasing out uniforms. Uniforms are ''mandatory but the policy is
not enforced.'' Our school has about 60% compliance. Seems to vary school-by-
school, in terms of how many parents follow the guidelines.
love the uniforms!
The policy is the same throughout the district. Parents can
complete a waiver to have their children exempted from the
uniform policy. However, the number of parents who complete
this form varies widely from campus to campus. You might want
to look around your child's school and see how many children
are wearing uniforms, then contact the principal if you'd like
a waiver. Some people get waivers even if they intend to have
their child wear the uniform most of the time, just in case
there are days when they aren't able to dress their child in
the uniform.
As a WCCUSD employee and parent I find that I am just as
frustrated in the uniform policy as you seem. The school board
mandates that the district have a uniform policy. (The reasons
behind this seem to stem from the belief that students who wear
uniforms to school have higher test scores. You can find board
minutes on the district website that cite the ''research'' to
support this belief.) Then when the policy was written they
build in a waiver application, so they wouldn't be sued by
families that feel this is a violation of their rights. At some
schools lots of families apply for, and receive waivers, and at
others they dont. Additionally, when the policy was written the
district made it impossible for schools to do anything about
children who come to school without a uniform or the waiver.
So, even at schools where there aren't at a lot of families who
have requested waivers, it could be a school where the
principal is choosing not to enforce the uniform policy because
there isn't really much that can be done about it. I have not
heard of any plans rescind the policy. Personally I think they
should either make the uniform policy uniform (ie: you wear it
or your parents have to bring you a uniform before you go to
class) or they should get rid of it all together because it
really isn't a good idea to teach students that they need to
follow some rules, but not others.
WCCUSD parent
don't know what WCCUSD school you're at, but my kids are at
Hilltop-- ever since the uniform policy was instated, parents
at Hilltop have had the option to sign a waiver (start of every
year) and ''opt out'' of the uniform as long as the students
follow the dress code, which is fine. This is what we've done
from day one-- and I will say that some families' kids at
Hilltop still wear the uniform, but they are far outnumbered by
the ones that don't.
anon
By state law, there is a uniform waiver form. Some schools deny
having access to the form and don't even advise parents that it
exists. However, at some schools over 75% of the families have
waivered out, at other schools fewer than 10 families waivered
out. It just depends on the school's culture and availability
of the form. If you would like to waiver out, try searching the
wccusd web site for the form.
non-uniform mom
this page was last updated: Dec 21, 2009
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