- Forney Independent School District is banning students from wearing certain clothing, including hoodies.
- The new dress code aims to train students for the "future workforce," the school district said.
- Many students and parents, however, have criticized the school for the dress code.
A Texas school district mandated a strict new student dress code for the 2022-2023 school year — restricting students from wearing clothing they view as unprofessional.
The Forney Independent School District, in a video posted June 22, called its new dress code "Back for the Future."
The attire guidelines aimed to prepare students for the future workforce, according to a video the school district posted.
"There are so many important future workforce skills that we want to impart in our kids as they head off to have a successful future," Superintendent Justin Terry said. "Things like creativity and collaboration are so important, but what's also important are some of the foundational baseline employability skills."
The guidelines are restrictive, making certain clothes and hairstyles unacceptable. Many commonly worn clothes are inappropriate articles of clothing at Forney, per the announcement.
A list of unacceptable clothing includes.
- Shirts with visible stripes, checks, lettering, wording, or other designs.
- Sleeveless shirts
- Thermal type shirts.
- T-shirts.
- Zippered shirts or blouses.
- Hooded sweatshirts or outerwear.
- Baggy-style legged slacks.
- Holes in clothing.
- Cargo or Carpenter-style pants.
- Soccer or boxer style shorts, wind shorts/pants, athletic shorts/pants, sweat shorts/pants, spandex
- Dresses.
- Overall pants, overall shorts, overall jumpers, and coveralls.
- Leather, suede, vinyl, corduroy, and denim materials; brads or studs.
Students also face consequences for unnatural hair coloring and are required to keep themselves groomed.
"They think it's an outrage," incoming freshman Emma Devore told NBC 5, an NBC TV affiliate in Dallas, referring to the conversation among her friends. "They hate it. They go on and on about how we should be able to express ourselves with what we wear...the hoodies are a big deal."
"I think taking the hoodies away is a little too much," Wendy Devore, Emma's mother, told NBC 5. "I do like that they do have a dress code."
Students and parents are responding negatively to the school's new dress code. An online petition posted Monday — created by student Brooklynn Hollaman — aims to fight the school district's guidelines. More than 4 thousand people have signed the petition as of Saturday.
"They claim to help improve self-esteem by making students wear things that make them uncomfortable, but when has forcing someone into something ever been the right way to make them more comfortable?" Kenzie Garret posted as a reason for signing the petition.
