School abolishes uniforms because nobody wore them

How many times have I said that if enough people ignore a uniform policy at a public school, the school will eventually have no choice but to abolish uniforms?

At San Jose Middle School in Novato, California, officials are repealing its year-old uniform policy, because 75% of students ignore it outright. And that's not counting just those who had actually applied to opt out. Remember, that's California, where the right to opt out is found in state law.

You know what I have to say to the school?


Inexplicably, while the uniform policy was in force, the school tried to punish students who defied it - despite the state guarantee of an opt-out. Eventually though, the principal came to his senses. He said, "By focusing so much of our attention on dress code issues, we were not able to address important and critical tasks relative to academic issues, curriculum, and learning here."

Gee, ya think?

I noticed the exact same problem at a Catholic high school I attended 20 years ago. I guess sometimes it takes a while for the obvious to catch on.

If the school actually said with a straight face the uniforms were to alleviate bullying, this rationale has also been debunked. A student said, "It was supposed to help bullying, but I don't think it helped anyone at all. Nothing really changed."

This too is something I could have warned the school about decades ago. I found it interesting that when I was in school there was almost a direct correlation between the rigidity of the dress code and the increase in serial harassment - because dress code enforcement drained so much effort from maintaining a safe school.

While Novato's youth may be lucky today, don't expect other communities to come to their senses soon - unless other public school uniform policies are similarly ignored.