Students Protest Uniforms At Board Meeting

The students of Hernando County won't take the district's proposed uniform code in silence.

That much became clear after dozens of local students and parents filled the boardroom during the school board's regular meeting Tuesday to protest the unified dress policy, which the board decided to pull from the evening's agenda several hours earlier.

The students, who mostly hailed from Springstead High School, gave impassioned reasons why the policy would be unfair, including inhibited individuality, increased cost and a need to enforce existing dress policies.

Junior class vice president Rafael Pintaville suggested the school implement a "neon shirt" punishment, forcing dress code violators to wear a knee-length neon shirt if they break the dress code.

"Appropriate discipline is just as important as the violation," he said. "Students will learn to follow the rules because they understand why they are in place. We must work together to uphold the standards for dress at our school."

Several frustrated parents of middle school-aged students also took issue with the proposed code, citing confusing messages from school officials.

Board members assured parents that the rules will be the same as they were last year until a new agreement can be reached, and agreed with students that existing policies must be enforced.

"I was a teenager and I remember putting up the skirts a bit," board chair Sandra Nicholson told the students. "But we can't have cleavage and backsides (showing)."