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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
City Councilor-at-Large Brian Gomes proposes the adoption of school uniforms
Councilor-at-Large Brian Gomes on Monday called for the city's school system to adopt school uniforms for its students. Do you support this proposal?
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
As the Uniform Turns…. http://whalingcitywatch.com/2012/08/15/as-the-uniform-turns/
It’s definitely one of the longer running sagas in New Bedford’s history. The issue of uniforms for students enrolled in the New Bedford Public Schools dates back to the early 1990s. The one constant has been Councillor-At-Large Brian Gomes. He has waged a one man campaign to bring a sense of order to our schools by tackling the sometimes thorny issue of student attire. Councillor Gomes has many convincing arguments supporting a consistent standard of dress across the district.
New Bedford flirted briefly with such a policy, albeit on a limited scale, at the Carlos Pacheco Elementary School. Fall River has a policy encouraging “spirit wear” at most of the elementary schools, all four of its middle schools, and at the alternative high school program. Each building appears to set its own policy. I would think this might pose a problem as urban students tend to move around the different schools within a district. Mr. Gomes told the school committee on Monday night that it would be best to adopt a city-wide standard. He has previously proposed phasing in the program over a period of years. The lower grades would be the first affected.
Mr. Gomes is “spot on” with his concerns about student wardrobe choices. Some of the young ladies are dressed as if they are in an apprentice program for the world’s oldest profession. The boys are equal offenders with their pants barely staying on them.
The committee was supportive of Mr. Gomes and has asked him serve on a subcommittee to study the issue. There’s only one problem and it’s a big one. It is illegal to mandate any type of uniform in a Massachusetts public school. Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, Section 83, says , “School officials shall not abridge the right of students as to personal right of dress and appearance, except if such officials determine that such personal dress and appearance violate reasonable standards of health, safety and cleanliness.” You can also find the text of the statute at the following link:
Dr. Larry Finnerty was the only member of the committee that appeared to have some knowledge of the law when he said “You have to avoid the word uniform because they’ll be some agency that will come in and beat the heck out of you about compelling or forcing children to wear uniforms.” Please remember that there are two attorneys on the school committee: Mayor Mitchell and Tom Clark.
Whaling City Watch believes that an unenforceable “spirit wear” policy will make the committee and the district look like fools. That’s not very hard to do. Perhaps the committee’s time would be better spent joining forces with other Gateway Cities in crafting a new state law that would facilitate school uniform policies for the cities and towns that choose to adopt them.
I really like the idea of affordable and comfortable clothing for students and staff. I like the idea of spirit wear, which i would hope would give everyone a feeling of belonging. With 2 on the way soon enough uniforms sound like a great idea!
It is going to be a running battle for the teachers and schools. I feel that after a few weeks students will resist wearing this so called uniform or "spirit wear" and then the fun will begin. We have enough to do with teaching. What happened to clean appropriate attire? People must wake up to the fact that one should dress appropriately for the occasion whether it is school, work, shopping, recreational, etc. I am sure no one would wear a winter coat to the beach on a hot humid day.
I really enjoy reading the whaling city watch blog. Here is one of my favorites quotes from the blog: " Whaling City Watch believes that an unenforceable “spirit wear” policy will make the committee and the district look like fools."
You are right... "Failure to represent ######" has written a prospectus that grants her a position as Principal... and her minions following suit as #2 & #3. Shame on you three for selling your souls to the devil for the sake of your colleagues. You are not about the students, you are about your own advancement
Lame gesture by Gomes. This is the BEST idea he has for our students? The most successful public schools in MA do not wear uniforms or "spirit gear"....they have dynamic learning experiences for their students-because their community leaders make sure they have the resources needed!
I agree. This is such a lame suggestion. Uniforms? Really though? How about computers? Books, maybe? It just goes to show how far detached they are from reality. Politicians have no business playing in public education. Their motivation is not the students; it is their own image. Ridiculous.
7 comments:
As the Uniform Turns….
http://whalingcitywatch.com/2012/08/15/as-the-uniform-turns/
It’s definitely one of the longer running sagas in New Bedford’s history. The issue of uniforms for students enrolled in the New Bedford Public Schools dates back to the early 1990s. The one constant has been Councillor-At-Large Brian Gomes. He has waged a one man campaign to bring a sense of order to our schools by tackling the sometimes thorny issue of student attire. Councillor Gomes has many convincing arguments supporting a consistent standard of dress across the district.
New Bedford flirted briefly with such a policy, albeit on a limited scale, at the Carlos Pacheco Elementary School. Fall River has a policy encouraging “spirit wear” at most of the elementary schools, all four of its middle schools, and at the alternative high school program. Each building appears to set its own policy. I would think this might pose a problem as urban students tend to move around the different schools within a district. Mr. Gomes told the school committee on Monday night that it would be best to adopt a city-wide standard. He has previously proposed phasing in the program over a period of years. The lower grades would be the first affected.
Mr. Gomes is “spot on” with his concerns about student wardrobe choices. Some of the young ladies are dressed as if they are in an apprentice program for the world’s oldest profession. The boys are equal offenders with their pants barely staying on them.
The committee was supportive of Mr. Gomes and has asked him serve on a subcommittee to study the issue. There’s only one problem and it’s a big one. It is illegal to mandate any type of uniform in a Massachusetts public school. Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, Section 83, says , “School officials shall not abridge the right of students as to personal right of dress and appearance, except if such officials determine that such personal dress and appearance violate reasonable standards of health, safety and cleanliness.” You can also find the text of the statute at the following link:
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXII/Chapter71/Section83
Dr. Larry Finnerty was the only member of the committee that appeared to have some knowledge of the law when he said “You have to avoid the word uniform because they’ll be some agency that will come in and beat the heck out of you about compelling or forcing children to wear uniforms.” Please remember that there are two attorneys on the school committee: Mayor Mitchell and Tom Clark.
Whaling City Watch believes that an unenforceable “spirit wear” policy will make the committee and the district look like fools. That’s not very hard to do. Perhaps the committee’s time would be better spent joining forces with other Gateway Cities in crafting a new state law that would facilitate school uniform policies for the cities and towns that choose to adopt them.
I really like the idea of affordable and comfortable clothing for students and staff. I like the idea of spirit wear, which i would hope would give everyone a feeling of belonging. With 2 on the way soon enough uniforms sound like a great idea!
Sarah Dury
It is going to be a running battle for the teachers and schools. I feel that after a few weeks students will resist wearing this so called uniform or "spirit wear" and then the fun will begin. We have enough to do with teaching. What happened to clean appropriate attire? People must wake up to the fact that one should dress appropriately for the occasion whether it is school, work, shopping, recreational, etc. I am sure no one would wear a winter coat to the beach on a hot humid day.
I really enjoy reading the whaling city watch blog. Here is one of my favorites quotes from the blog: " Whaling City Watch believes that an unenforceable “spirit wear” policy will make the committee and the district look like fools."
You are right... "Failure to represent ######" has written a prospectus that grants her a position as Principal... and her minions following suit as #2 & #3. Shame on you three for selling your souls to the devil for the sake of your colleagues. You are not about the students, you are about your own advancement
Lame gesture by Gomes. This is the BEST idea he has for our students? The most successful public schools in MA do not wear uniforms or "spirit gear"....they have dynamic learning experiences for their students-because their community leaders make sure they have the resources needed!
I agree. This is such a lame suggestion. Uniforms? Really though? How about computers? Books, maybe? It just goes to show how far detached they are from reality. Politicians have no business playing in public education. Their motivation is not the students; it is their own image. Ridiculous.
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