Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott School Board Makes No Decision On Uniforms

There is still no decision on uniforms in the Prescott School District.

At its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, May 16, the Prescott School Board again discussed the issue of requiring school uniforms, but made no decision.

Robin Nygaard, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, voiced her opinion favoring school uniforms.

Saying she wanted answers from the school board after hearing rumors the district would be going toward a "preppy" look with the uniforms, Nygaard said this look may not be what is wanted, but agreed uniforms aren't a bad idea.

Wearing uniforms, she said, levels the playing field as it gets rid of symbols used to identify people and groups.

Ron Wright, district superintendent, said the board has done a lot of thinking on this issue, and the prep look isn't what it has in mind.

In fact, he said, the district isn't going for any particular look at all, but does want to take away the stigma of have and have not.

Safety issues are also a concern and part of the reasoning for the uniform issue.

But, he said, the question is how far does the district go with its uniform requirements. Will the district state the type of jackets students wear, belt styles or shoes.

Another idea is to move into uniforms smoothly, if this is what the district wants.

"We don't want to spend time in court telling why we went to uniforms," he said. "I'm wondering if this is the right time (to require uniforms be worn)."

Wright said the district needs to be spending its money on instructional and physical things instead of court costs and legal fees.

"We want to be conservative in our approach," he continued.

The board will likely have a public meeting on this issue to see what people in the area think about school uniforms.

Nygaard said studies show children's self-esteem can be damaged based on what they wear.

She said some of what is worn at high school is sexually inappropriate.

But, Nygaard told the board, the biggest problem is clothing is used to identify different economic groups. By the time students get to high school, she said, they have already decided who they are and use clothing to express their individuality.

Should uniforms be required, they need to be sturdy and durable enough for elementary and middle school students to play in.

Nygaard suggested staying away from loafers as they don't support the foot well and children can tear them up quickly playing hard in them.

In addition, she said, the rules on clothing need to coincide with what's on the market. Finding shorts for girls the appropriate length is difficult because fashion designers dictate they be shorter than the school allows.

"This may be the right thing to do," Wright said about school uniforms, "but the wrong time to do it."

From there the board heard about "baby think it over," a computerized doll used to show students what parenting is really about.

The doll has a computer chip that records how it's treated, whether it is held enough, how often it's fed and changed and what kind of nurturing it gets.

These dolls, Wright said, were purchased through the Family and Consumer Science classes.

Board member Pat Blake told about the Hometown Health Improvement Project, through the Arkansas Department of Health.

This is an important program, she said, as it involves a risk behavior survey for students in grades 7-12.

Those taking the surveys will be asked to answer personal questions about their lifestyles and choices, such as drug and alcohol use, unprotected sex and tobacco use.

The results of the survey, she said, can be used to help get gant money as well as funding for preventative programs.

Some 5,000 pamphlets will be printed with the survey results, and be made available to the public.

However, there will be no names on the surveys, so the identity of the students turning them in will be protected.