Everyone is, or at least should be, well aware of Chardon High School’s dress code. Students are not permitted to expose too much skin, so that requires clothes in good taste. Clothes should not have holes or frays in them, not be too short or too tight, include graphic content. In addition to these dress code rules, students are not allowed to wear hats, hoods, or coats during school. These items must be kept in lockers during the day. If students should fail to follow these rules, it can result in the confiscation of any hats or coats by teachers without the promise of return if a student has broken a dress code rule too many times. Other punishments used to include detentions or even Saturday school.
Since the dress code in the high school is such a big problem when the weather becomes warmer, the school board has decided to change the punishment for breaking the rules. Instead of the old student punishments, the administration will now be charging fees for each violation of dress code. For hats and hoods, students will be punished by having to pay $5. The fee will also be $5 for inappropriate footwear. If more important, obvious rules were broken, such as too short, too tight, or too low clothing, the fee will be $10. Transparent articles of clothing will also be punished by charging $10. Any violations that include coats will be $10 as well. If articles of clothing display graphic or inappropriate content, the fee will be $15. If a student still continues to dress unsuitably, the fee charge will be an extra $10 for each article of inappropriate clothing.
One of the school nurses said, “We have seen so many students in our room break the dress code, so we personally think that the price of fees should be raised.”
“I wear flip-flops all the time in spring and summer. If I have to pay more and more money every single time I wear flip-flops, I’m going to go broke!” complained a freshman student who wishes to stay anonymous.
There will be no confiscation of clothing for punishments. Students can, though, still be punished by having to attend a detention or Saturday school as well as paying for their violations. Freshman Jem Shaffer said, “Well, I know of a lot of people that will run out of money fast, then.”
Many people have said that this will have a good impact on the students. “These new rules will be more effective for disorderly students. Everyone cares more about their money than getting a detention. Now that you could get both punishments, the school dress code won’t be a problem anymore,” said Abbie Greene, also a freshman.
Even Mr. Fetchik has something to say. “The money would have gone towards school repairs, but we decided to give the money towards Mr. Sedlak’s wardrobe because he used to dress like a slob,” he added.
These new rules will be put into effect once the weather becomes warmer and stays warm. The school hopes that these new fees will change the dress code and make it less of a problem for teachers and other school officials to deal with.