Students, parents say West Central dress code unfairly targets girls
It's not the banned yoga pants that bother Katie Larson about West Central High School's dress code.
It's the seven PowerPoint slides with photos of girls in short skirts, ripped jeans and spaghetti strap tops compared to the zero slides with photos of boys in a presentation by Principal Melinda Jensen.
The presentation, which made its annual appearance Monday during freshman orientation, left some parents and students feeling the school's dress code is unfair to girls because of its focus on prohibiting girls' clothing items that may be a "distraction" (a term used in the slideshow) to classroom learning.
Larson, a 17-year-old senior, understands why a dress code is necessary, but to hear dress code rules presented as a way to prevent distraction in the classroom makes her feel disrespected.
"To hear that me showing my shoulders will be a distraction, I feel I'm being more of an object than a person," Larson said.
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She's not the only one feeling singled out because of her gender during Jensen's presentation.
The slideshow outlines the general dress code policy, with the next seven slides showing images of women in various outfits. A final dress code slide shows the text-only "guidelines for boys," which include a "neat and clean" appearance with no saggy jeans, no tank tops and no hats worn in the building.
The discrepancy in number of slides illustrates junior Kyra McMillan's feeling that the high school's dress code is less strict for boys.
"A lot of girls don't like the dress code," McMillan said.
The girls' slides in Jensen's presentation show photos of the women in athletic shorts or "short-shorts" next to a photo demonstrating the appropriate length. Others show examples of short skirts, off-the-shoulder blouses, ripped jeans and spaghetti-strap tank tops.
Jensen would not share the slideshow file with Argus Leader Media, but she did allow a reporter to view the presentation.
She defended her extensive use of examples of women, saying she's been asked by parents to give examples of what is and isn't school-appropriate attire for girls, but not for boys.
"(Do) they want me to show a picture of a boy with a hat and a boy without a hat?" Jensen said.
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A dress code violation at West Central lands students in detention, Jensen said. Last year, 33 students were cited for dress code violations, most of whom were girls.
Deb Peters, a South Dakota state senator and mother of two boys at West Central, said she would like to see a dress code policy that's consistent for both boys and girls.
"There's got to be an education system where girls don't feel discriminated against," Peters said.
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Jensen doesn't feel the policy or her presentation discriminates against girls.
"If I'm a young lady, and I don't want to be objectified, I need to do my research," she said. "I need to do my thinking on what are those things that objectify women in our society. (The slideshow) is informational. I'm not making judgments here."
Michael Reynolds, a 17-year-old West Central junior, doesn't see his female classmates' clothes as a distraction. He said the dress code policy would be more fair if girls could wear what they wanted.
"I don't think it's fair (for the girls) because we can wear what we want," Reynolds said.
McMillan's frustration with the policy comes in its enforcement. Students who violate dress code are pulled from class and asked to change clothes, meaning that girls whose outfits are deemed to be a distraction are forced to miss class.
"I think no matter what you wear," McMillan said. "It shouldn't be a distraction to your own education to not be a distraction to others'."
Follow education watchdog reporter Megan Raposa on Twitter @mlraposa and subscribe to The Highlighter, an education newsletter for parents.