Uniforms OK'd -- Everett School Adopts Dress Code

EVERETT - Joining a national trend, Whittier Elementary will be the first public school in Snohomish County to require students to wear uniforms. The Everett School Board last night unanimously approved a policy that allows the North Everett school to establish a dress-code requirement.

Supporters across the nation say replacing baggy pants and gang colors with twill pants and school colors reduces gang activity and improves safety in schools.

But that's not why Whittier decided to turn to its navy blue or khaki wardrobe.

Whittier doesn't have a gang problem, say parents and school officials. But it does have a diverse socioeconomic population - 40 percent of the students come from low-income homes - where clothes distinguish the haves and have-nots.

"Whether we have uniforms or not, kids want to wear the same clothes. . . . There's a strong need for belonging," said school social worker Joan Klorer, who first suggested the idea and often counsels students upset because of how they look.

"They felt self-conscious and would come in sometimes crying because they didn't think other kids liked them," Klorer said. "They would say, `Kids don't like me. They tease me because of the way I dress.' "

A school committee researching the issue found that schools where students wore uniforms had improved attendance, fewer class disruptions and a better sense of school unity and pride, parent Susan Homer said.

Parents like it, too, because it can save money.

At Whittier, families can expect to pay about $115 a year to dress their child in the minimum recommended three tops, two bottoms and one sweat shirt or sweater.

A growing number of public schools in the state and nation are requiring students to wear uniforms. In Seattle, there now are four: the African American Academy, South Shore Middle School, and Colman and Brighton elementary schools.

At Whittier, private dollars are being raised to help families with financial hardships. An anonymous donor who doesn't have children at Whittier already has committed a significant amount, said Whittier Principal Ed Glazer.

Students can be waived from the uniform requirement for religious reasons.

Because the school's site council - the committee of parents and staffers who approved the uniform policy and took the proposal to the School Board - wants the new policy to be a positive change, no student will be punished for not wearing a uniform.

Homer, who will have three children at Whittier this fall, said one of the benefits of the program is fewer disruptions in the classroom.

"If teachers can spend less time taking care of those problems and more time teaching, then my child directly benefits," she said.

Her fourth-grade daughter said she likes the idea.

"I think it will help the school and I like the clothes," said 10-year-old Megan Homer, who looks forward to not having to pick out a different outfit for school every morning.

But schoolmate Bradley Larson can't stand the thought of wearing uniforms to school.

"They're not very stylish," said Bradley, 10. "They wouldn't do anything for me or any other kids in the school, and I already have pride in my school."

His mother, Stephanie Larson, who wore a uniform for eight years in Catholic school, is against the uniform policy, in part because it takes away individual freedom of expression.

"If they're concerned about test scores and self-esteem, they need to look a little deeper than a blanket solution such as uniforms," Larson said of school officials.

She suggests the school take a more active role in increasing parental involvement. And she's frustrated at raising money to go toward uniforms instead of replacing 30-year-old textbooks.

"Why would they have to come out of school funds?" Larson asked. "If they're hitting up local businesses for uniforms, why couldn't they hit them up for subscriptions for Weekly Readers?"

Larson said she plans to request a waiver under the religious exemption for her son. "If I have to say it's a `spiritual belief,' then, yeah, I guess it is," she said.