A new dress code approved for 2009-10 at Wiley Middle School isn't what some parents want, and they're letting school officials know it.
Janet Marsh, who has a sixth-grader at Wiley, said some parents felt too intimidated to express opposition to the dress code when school officials asked for a vote.
If parents voted against the dress code, they had to write their names, their child's name and homeroom, Marsh said.
"A lot of people didn't want to write no because they were afraid of repercussions," she said. "The whole thing has taken place with a great deal of restless urgency.
"It doesn't make any sense … they really should have made this a gradual change over if they can show this will actually do some good."
Marsh objected to the dress code during a Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School board meeting Tuesday night. Parents weren't aware that school officials would be going to the Jan. 13 board meeting to ask for approval, she said then.
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School board approved the code at the Jan. 13 meeting, but Donny Lambeth, chairman of the board, said at this week's meeting that the board would look into the issue.
On Jan. 13, Wiley Principal Ed Weiss told the board that 85 percent of parents responded positively when asked about the dress code. He added that 75 percent of parents voted in favor of the dress code.
Weiss, who is in his fifth year as principal at the Wiley, said that the dress code is an important next step for the school.
"We as a school are trying to do everything possible to promote a positive and productive learning environment for our students," Weiss said. "Kids are very impressionable at this age and I'm very passionate about trying to provide a school atmosphere where everyone can be their best.
"We feel that a standard mode of dress will help us with focusing on academics," he said. "We think that it will improve student behavior and we also think that it's going to make our kids feel good about themselves and create a continued sense of school spirit and community."
The board unanimously approved the dress code. Board members Buddy Collins and Geneva Brown were not present during the vote.
The dress code at Wiley requires students to wear solid-colored white, gold or yellow, gray, tan, black or brown shirts and pants. Capri pants, skirts, dresses and jumpers in the same color pattern are allowed. The dress code doesn't allow for jeans, spandex, nylon, leggings, pajama and sweat pants.
Other middle schools have similar dress codes.
Hanes Middle, Kernersville Middle, Kennedy Learning Center, Hill Middle and Griffith Academy have similar dress codes to what has been approved at Wiley, said Carol Montague Davis, the school system's assistant superintendent for middle schools.
Most of those schools require that students wear solid shirts and pants, skirts, dresses and jumpers in the school's colors.
Some of the dress codes at those schools have been around for awhile, said Theo Helm, a spokesman for the school system.
Supporters of dress codes say that they help keep middle school-age students from judging one another and acting out because of their clothing. Others argue that there is no substantial evidence that dress codes improve student behavior.
Clare Altmann, parent of a seventh-grader at Wiley, said that she was concerned about communication between Wiley officials and parents about the dress code.
Altmann said the dress code was first mentioned at a PTA board meeting last spring.
"My concerns were that it needed to be, No. 1, well researched to demonstrate that this program would actually address and solve behavioral problems in the classrooms, and No. 2, that any major change in policy like this would have to be well communicated with parents and the entire Wiley community," Altmann said. "There has been no opportunity for open forum to discuss it or weigh the pros and cons of the program."
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