Skip To Main Content

Logo Image

Logo Title

District Dress Code

Over the last two years, FCUSD educational partners, including parents, students, teachers, and administrators, have come together as a Dress Code Advisory Committee to create a district-wide dress code policy.  Before we began our work, feedback was gathered from parents, students, and staff through a Thought Exchange survey.  This feedback, along with research and date gathered from other Districts was used to create a pilot dress code policy that is fair, racially and gender-neutral, equitable, and enforced consistently throughout our District.   

Background: Prior to COVID,  some schools followed a dress code that included an outline of a human with a blacked-out rectangle illustrating the parts of the body that must be covered. But when schools reopened after the Pandemic, enforcing the dress code policy in a challenging learning environment where students were arriving with more social emotional and learning needs became problematic.  School staff and parents wanted the focus to be on students reengaging with school, that the primary responsibility for a student's attire resides with the student and their family.  The school’s responsibility is to support the health and safety of all students and to ensure students are thriving in school. 

The District Dress Code Advisory Committee worked closely with the Student Advisory Board at the end of 2022-23 to create a Pilot Dress Code Policy for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school year.  Feedback received from recent surveys to parents, students, and school staff have been positive with no impact on teaching and learning. 

With the School Board’s approval, we hope to adopt the Pilot Dress Code Policy during the 2024-25 school year. 

Pilot Dress Code Policy

Students MUST wear:

  • Clothing that protects and covers private body parts.

  • Top (shirt, blouse, sweater, sweatshirt, tank, etc.)

  • Bottom (pants, shorts, skirt, dress, etc.) that completely covers the buttocks

  • Footwear must be worn.

This policy permits additional student attire requirements when necessary to ensure safety in certain academic settings (e.g., physical activity, science or CTE courses).  Additionally, this policy allows for reasonable variation in required student attire for participation in activities such as swimming.   

 Students MAY NOT wear:

  • Clothing that is sexually explicit, contains threats, or that promotes illegal or violent conduct such as the unlawful use of weapons, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or drug paraphernalia.

  • Visible underwear or bathing suits of similar design. Visible waistbands or straps on undergarments worn underneath other clothing are not a violation. 

  • Clothing that demonstrates hate group association/affiliation and/or use hate speech targeting groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or other protected groups.

  • Sheer or see-through clothing that reveals private parts. 

  • Hats or headgear that cover the student’s face or intentionally masks student identity, except for clothing with a medical or religious purpose. Teachers may direct students to adjust headwear during exams or to address headphone/earbud issues.

Enforcement

  • Staff will use reasonable efforts to avoid addressing violation in front of other students.  

  • Staff will make every effort to avoid loss of instructional time when addressing dress code violations. 

  • For data collection purposes, dress code violations will be recorded in Student Information System.

  • Depending on the severity of the first violation, a student may be simply warned not to wear the item to school in the future. 

  • When there is a question of whether a student’s dress is appropriate for the learning environment, the principal or designee will have the authority to make a final determination. 

Consequences

  • First Offense:  Change or correct clothing, parent/guardian notification, violation will be documented in SIS.

  • Second Offense:  Change clothing, parent/guardian notification, detention assigned and documented in SIS. 

  • Third Offense:  Parent/Guardian conference with student and administration, further consequences will be determined by administration.