School District’s Dress Code Outlaws Baseball Caps, Baggy Pants

No more baseball caps, hooded sweatshirts, frayed cutoffs, ripped blue jeans or saggy pants at Tahoma High School in rural Maple Valley.

The Tahoma School Board has banned all of those items, along with halter tops, seethrough blouses and Spandex, in a new districtwide dress code, one of the strictest in the area, that will go into effect next school year.

The action touched off debate on the board and in the community on student rights vs. adult authority to exert control over the learning environment.

To Tahoma High Principal Archie McCallum the issue is clear. Clothes can be powerful symbols - they can shape the social environment. McCallum has seen them used to shock, disrupt, embarrass, even intimidate.

Supporting the dress code is a no-brainer to him.

“That’s our job as administrators,” he said. “To make sure the learning environment is good and that it is safe.”

But clothes also are about self-expression, and parent Mary Barrett believes her son should have the right to wear a baseball cap, or anything else, as long as it doesn’t offend anyone.

“Sometimes the purpose of a dress code is to have control,” she said. “When my son graduates, he’ll be of legal age. I think it gets to a point where kids have to make certain decisions for themselves, and live with the consequences.”

McCallum showed board members assorted items - including T-shirts bearing messages of a sexual nature - to convince them some clothing can be disruptive.

“They’re offensive, insulting,” he said of the items. “Parents want school to be a safe place for kids. It’s tough if you don’t have rules you can enforce.”

As for baseball caps, McCallum said some students pull their caps down over their eyes so teachers can’t see their faces, and sleep through class.

Last year, a group of high school students started wearing caps with Confederate flags on them. One of the cap-wearing teens harassed a black student by standing in the center of the hallway and staring him down, forcing the student to step aside to pass.

In response, the school formed a diversity committee of community members and school staff. It was the committee that first came up with the idea of a dress code.

“A kid should not have to come to school in fear,” McCallum said.