Some students at Dickson County High School have turned to social media to express frustrations with how the school has enforced its dress code policy.
Tori Taylor, a senior at Dickson County High School, said she's one of several students who have been pulled out of class for a dress code violation. She said the school’s dress code policy states students need to wear collared or crew neck shirts with sleeves. She said she was wearing a crew neck shirt that she believed was in compliance with the dress code when she was sent to the office.
She said she was told “it wasn’t the right cut of a crew neck top.”
“I spent a lot of money on my school clothes for my senior year,” said Taylor. “I can’t afford to buy a new set of school clothes just to question if it will be ok.”
If a student violates the dress code, they are asked to change clothes before returning to class.
Taylor said she doesn’t want to miss class, and has believed the school needs to clarify the policy.
“I just feel it needs to be explained better,” said Taylor. “They need to do a better job presenting it to us.”
Joey Holley, the Principal at Dickson County High School, said in an email statement: “99% of our students are abiding by our dress code. Our dress code has been the same for three or four years.”
Holley went on to say in the same statement:
“Dickson County High School is proud to build good relationships with students, parents, and our community. We have a great school and we strive every day to keep it that way. The purpose of our dress code is to assure students will dress and groom in a clean, neat, and modest manner in order not to distract or interfere with the educational environment of the school. For the most part, 99% of our students have come to school within our dress code guidelines. As a reminder, we have communicated with students, parents, and community our dress code expectations for this school year."
Holley also mentioned:
- Posts were made on social media throughout the summer concerning our student handbook page on our dress code.
- The first day of school, every homeroom teacher went over a slide show on school rules that included dress code.
- Announcements were made all four days of the first week of school concerning the top five things we were seeing as dress code violations.
- It has been a tradition of ours to give students the first week with only a warning to give them time to adjust back to school.
- Students were reminded in the hallways and in the classroom that they would be out of dress code next week if they were in violation the first week of school.
- This past weekend there was another social media post concerning our dress code.
- Sunday afternoon a school reach message was sent out concerning our dress code.
