Trustees Told Dress Code Violations Distract Students

VENTURA —  Helena Torrez-Reaves, principal of Balboa Middle School, held up a pair of high-cut jeans shorts with frayed edges and oversized baggy denim jeans. She told the Ventura school board Tuesday night that such items were distracting her students from studying.

“Any time a student is not following the dress code and [a teacher] sends them to the office, then that takes away from their education and their studies,” said Reaves, adding that more than 200 students have been sent to her office for dress code violations this semester.

Reaves gave school trustees an overview on the history of Balboa’s dress code and updated the panel on a proposal to require students to wear uniforms.

Next Tuesday, school administrators will begin drafting a survey that will be mailed to each Balboa parent asking their opinion on requiring uniforms. The surveys are to be sent Jan. 10. and school officials hope to receive the results by March.

In August, shortly after a few PTA members expressed concerns that administrators were not doing a satisfactory job of enforcing the school’s dress code, Balboa school officials began investigating a policy of requiring uniforms. The idea calling for uniforms in Ventura schools flopped, however, when Supt. Joseph Spirito introduced the concept two years ago.

Supporters of uniforms argued that such a policy would end the need to enforce the school’s dress code--which bans baggy clothes and short skirts--and could raise academic performance.

But the idea has met with fierce resistance from many parents, who contend uniforms take away from a student’s individuality. Spending so much time to debate uniforms, opponents say, takes attention away from more pressing educational matters.