Here are just a few examples of what is going on in Polk County Schools due to this uniform policy. These are excerpts from e-mails and conversations we have held with parents since the first day of school.
Note to media and press representatives: Although we have left the names out of these incidents to protect people's privacy, if you contact us ( rwms@gate.net, DAC2884@aol.com, or tillman@ithink.net ), we will contact the individuals concerned to see if they would be willing to be interviewed directly.
The most outrageous action by a school administrator so far this week involves a Westwood Middle School girl. Apparently, a vice principal was of the opinion that the young lady was wearing spandex. In order to test this idea, the principal grabbed the girl's pants, opened them up, and put her hand down in them to pull the tag out. The result was that the girl was sent to In School Suspension for having pants with a 4% spandex content. Read the Tampa Tribune article on the incident here.
Actually, this may be the most outrageous story related to uniforms. Apparently, over 300 children were withdrawn from the schools the first week because of the uniform policy. The number of students being issued loaners, placed in ISS and the amount of time being spent on daily uniform inspections remains a mystery, but hopefully, we will soon see some light there as well. There is no doubt that children are not getting the public education they deserve because of the uniform policy.
At Griffin Elementary, a child was made to remove protected speech stickers from his backpack. Also, his shirt was deemed the wrong shade of green. He was made to change into a loaner and was not allowed to call home to his parents when he asked.
Friday, August 13th, 1999
3 children were suspended for uniform violations.
S_____ B_____ said her second grader followed the rules at Auburndale Central Elementary School by wearing navy blue pants. But he got in trouble when he wore last year's navy blue. "I sent him with the newer clothes first," B____ said. "But Friday, I sent him with last year's clothes. They were navy blue last year, but you know how you wash pants and they get a little faded." See Ledger article.
My son was sent to principal because denim shorts were not correct shade of blue. The principal said they were too old and when I explained to her that I had just removed the tags off those "old" jeans, she still didn't care what I had to say. They were then just simply "the wrong shade of blue". But I agree with you that even dark blue jeans will lighten with several washings. Then we'll have to go buy more! So when they this uniform policy is economical----they are wrong!!!! [Lewis Elementary, Ft. Meade]
At Lakeland Highlands Middle School, a student was told his shirts were unacceptable because they were the "wrong shade" of forest green - not hunter's green ."They make everybody stand up in first period to see if they have the right colors and stuff," said J____ K_____ 13, who attends Lakeland Highlands. "Then they tell you to go to the dean's office. There were about 30 kids in there Thursday. But they all switched shirts. "See Ledger article.
R_____ R_____'s daughter was made to change her pants because the overalls she wore were unacceptable at Eagle Lake Elementary. R_____ said she read the uniform policy over and over and couldn't find a place where it said overalls are not allowed. See Ledger article.
A parent reported that 30 to 40 students were in In School Suspension at Boone Middle School for non-uniform compliance. (Does that mean all those children refused a loaner?)
A child at Lake Alfred Middle School was held in detention for hours because her uniform shorts were too short. She was only given 10 minutes to eat lunch, and would have missed lunch entirely if a dean hadn't noticed her and remembered that she needed to eat. Her parents report that she is a straight A student who likes school, but has really been damaged by this incident.
1 child was suspended from school for uniform non-compliance.
A Winston Elementary parent was told at the end of last year to buy solid color shirts. She bought white shirts with no collar. Because the shirt did not meet the uniform requirements, the child was made to wear a loaner. When the parent came to pick the child up early (at 2:25 P.M. - school did not let out until 2:50), she was told by a school employee that she had no parental authority until 2:50! This is one of the most outrageous statements to come out of a school board employee since this whole uniform mess began three years ago. It illustrates the problem with Supt. Reynolds and most of the school board in a nutshell.
Seven children were given suspension notices today (to be served on Thursday). These were three students at Lake Shipp Elementary, one at Eagle Lake Elementary, two at Kathleen Middle School, and one at Polk City Elementary. Articles appeared in The Ledger and in The News Chief.
A parent at sent one of his children in a white, polo style uniform shirt on which an American flag image and the text "God, please bless America one more time" had been transferred. The child was made to change into a loaner.
My daughter (at Boone Middle School) was told today to remove a scrunchy from her arm or it would be thrown in the garbage. Has your daughter ever removed a scrunchy from her hair and put it on her wrist? I'm guilty of breaking that law. My daughter was told that the scrunchy could give the wrong person the wrong idea and it could get her shot. I guess her teacher was referring to gang symbols. So, let's now ban the scrunchies from school. They may put our children's lives in jeopardy! A teacher shouldn't be worried about what a child has on. A teacher should be teaching instead of scanning every child to make sure they have on the right clothing. A child can learn in any type of clothing. Did you know that the teachers are keeping up with how many are out of uniform. Sounds to me like, Reynolds and Company have occupied your daughter's teacher with the responsibility of enforcing the mandatory uniform code rather than teaching.
Also had incident today with 5yr old daughter.
She went to school this morning wearing new winnie the pooh denim overalls.
Called to principals office and humiliated and given non compliance letter.
Told that if she didn't start dressing right, she would be in trouble.
Called principal (Anita Lyle) she was no help, other than to say
that overalls are not allowed. So called school board and talked to volunteer
(Mrs. Williams) She said overalls are against policy because of safety
reasons! I requested to
speak to a supervisor about my daughter being
humiliated and she took message. 10 minutes later talked to a man who identified
himself as a supervisor (Angus Williams) He said that overalls were
not allowed and apologized for daughter being humiliated! Said
he would call school principal and get it taken care of. About
20 minutes later school principal called me and stated that I had
no "right" to call school board ! I explained to her that
she was wrong! I also told her that if she had any further problems
with the way my children are dressed to call me and that my children better
never be called to her office about uniform violations! From now
on, she will deal with me.
Many parents are trying to abide by the policy despite the fact that they disagree with it. Since many do not have the option of home schooling, they are attempting to comply so that their children will receive an education.
Here are few examples of what happened to parents who thought that their children were in compliance.
7 children were suspended on August 11th for uniform non-compliance.
One parent purchased a red polo type shirt since that color was displayed on the school uniform poster. His child was detained for 3 hours because his school did NOT choose red as their additional color. He was made to change into a loaner shirt while his was thrown into a box with all the others out of compliance. His first day of Middle school was tarnished beyond repair and ended with tears.
A parent of an elementary schooler sent notice in writing and told the school staff in person that if her son's shirt did not meet the uniform requirements, to call her. Her child was prohibited from doing so and bullied into changing his clothes. He was up vomiting all night due to stress. She has withdrawn him and will home school.
Two parents called before 9:00 this morning (Wed., Aug. 11th) with complaints about additional restrictions not covered in the printed code. Over-alls, and jeans with stripes.
A young child was forced to change in a dark closet. When the mother went to the school they refused to show her where her child had changed clothes. The reason they gave was that they knew she would tell the media.
A parent tried to go with his child into a room where those out of uniform were being "offered" loaner shirts. The principal would NOT let him in the room. Interestingly, all the students accepted a loaner. There is no way to know what those children were told.
Many parents chose to send their children in uniform with
a small sticker or button of protest. Messages ranged from: "uniforms
stink" to "It's not what you wear it's what you do". as well as many other
varied acceptable statements of protest. I have lost track of the
number of parents who have called to tell us that their children were forced
to remove the stickers
under threat of dire discipline. All of this is occurring to
kids aged 5-14. These are children. Many are experiencing sleep
disorders and illness due to fear of going to school and being in trouble.
These are clear First Amendment violations.
There are many more tales of horror, including an episode of near violence
from an angry parent. If our PAC member had not been there to stop
this parent, the principal would probably have been injured. There
is going to be violence if something isn't done. There are more and
more people calling daily to join our cause. They are very
angry are the Board and Mr.
Reynolds. They are tired of being disrespected, and ignored.
Many of these parents were actually in favor of uniforms until their own
children were mistreated. I do not want any parent, child, or employee
injured, however, if something doesn't happen soon I fear this may be the
case.
Do NOT believe the reports from the board concerning compliance and ease of operation. They are attempting to snow the public. They are LYING.
Jane Doe (bus driver) - Pat Brown approached her and said "you are a
PCSB employee and you are supposed to support Mr. Reynolds and the boards
decisions they make, and the uniform policy. She continued "Mr. Reynolds
was concerned about this and had approached Fred Murphy on this issue,
and Mr. Murphy had asked her to speak to Jane concerning this". Jane
Doe replied "It is a personal decision and I will not debate this
issue with you". Jane Doe continued, " Where do you draw the line between
me being a parent and a driver?" Pat Brown replied " Well you didn't
have to go public with this."
There have been numerous employee's off the record, that have reported the same kind of treatment.
Bus drivers had a union meeting and were told to write the Governor, and tell him they did not want seat belts in the buses, because it would cost the county too much money.
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We thought we would share our 1st days of school with you. We
waited around amongst the crowd until 8:30 trying to get an audience with
Dr. Childs. She brushed us off like she didn't have time. She tried to
tell us that we would have to wait until 3:30. We prevailed and had her
attention at 10:00. We had the only 3 students in protest. (Lake Shipp)
We handed her a letter requesting an opt out for religious reasons, we
were told she would fax it to Bartow. Our children refused the loaner
shirts. We were told they would be in room 1 going over the code of
conduct. We told her that we will not allow our children to be isolated
& we'll be back tomorrow. We asked her what time is good for you, she
said 9:30. Second day was short & civil. We had asked for a class reassignment
& she seemed to be accommodating. We told her the first day that we
would not comply until she suspended our children. We had intended on complying
on Thursday but we have decided that we are not going to give those arrogant
$@#%&%$ %$#@&%#$@* another moment of "custody" of our children.
We told her that our
youngest would probably be out until Monday & she told my wife
"Just bring a doctor's note". These people believe that they are the only
ones qualified to raise our children. We are enrolling our children in
an umbrella private school & WE are going to teach all 4 of our children
ourselves! We still are going to a part of PAC. We are furious at
these arrogant condescending brainwashed school officials. We still are
plaintiffs because our children were denied access to a tax funded education
etc... We will be at the next meeting. by the way, no cops at
Lake Shipp.
R________
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To whom it may concern, this letter is about what happen to my son.
D_____, who goes to school at Floral Elm. Yesterday 8/9/99 D_____ was taken
to a portable and asked to change his shirt because it was the wrong color.
They didn't phone me and he had to change in a closet. I didn't know of
this until D______ came home from school. I then called the school and
spoke to many people including the prinipal. All I could get was "sorry."
I asked to see the closet they stuck my child in and they simply refused.
I met with the principal this morning 8/10/99 and they still refused to
show me the closet. I spoke to
Mr.Copper, I told him of this manner and he said he was sorry and would
see why they stuck D____ in the closet to change his shirt. I asked Mr.
Copper if I could view the closet, he said ok, I asked him if i could take
pictures of the closet and he said no way because he didn't want me to
hand them over to the media. So I did view the closet that my son was put
in. I'm a very unhappy mother, I love my children very much! Please help
me on this matter. My son has always been an A/B student, and has never
been in trouble with school. Just picture a small 9 year old in a closet
changing his shirt and not being able to call his mother. Thank you very
much I hope you can help?
A____
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C____ _____ - Eastside Elem. - Daughter was denied access to classroom because she would not change into loaned shirt.
A_____ ______ - Eastside Elem. - Daughter was pulled from class while wearing a uniform, when ISS teacher asked Mr. Harding "why is she here?" His reply was," I just wanted to see her." Then after he lectured all the students (approx. 40 not in uniform) , he said "Hun, you can go back to class".
Chris Hughes - Denison Middle- Approx. 30 students out of uniform, were
pulled from class, and sent to room 16, Mr. Hughes, a SAC member,
School Volunteer (since 1986), and Business Partner requested to observe
the lecture, since
his son was going to be talked to. Mr. Donaway (principal) told
him "He was not allowed in". Per the student, they were told "you
have 3 choices, change, ISS, OSS". No parents were contacted.
Mr. Donaway called the district office, and spoke with Frances McMicheal
about his child's attire, and was told "his shirt did not meet the intent
of the policy", even though the code conduct does not specifically require
solid shirts.
L____ - Ft Meade Elementary - Student was told Aug. 9th to remove protest
sticker, and also Aug. 10th.
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My name is L_____ _______. I have a 12 year old son that attends Westwood
Middle School. I am opposed to the mandatory uniforms in our school. My
husband and I discussed this and decided to go with the flow, so that our
child would not be ostracized by his teachers. I do not like the way my
children look in T-shirts, I think their appearance is sloppy. At Westwood
Middle School the only shirts available to purchase are T-shirts. The school
sent home a letter saying you could purchase collared shirts for your children
at the store if you chose to. The school gave an option of three colors
navy, white and
royal blue. We purchased the closest colors we could find. Today my
child was pulled from class because the shade of blue of his shirt was
not exactly right. He was made to go to the office and change into a school
t-shirt. He was told to put the shirt that we had purchased for him in
a box with all the other shirts that children were made to remove. At the
end of the day he was made to dig through the box to find his shirt so
he could go home. The shirt sat in a box with many other shirts all day.
I am sure if one of the shirts put in that box came from a child that happened
to have head lice, that all the children that were made to put their shirts
in that box are at risk of contracting the lice also. I tried to not make
any waves for my child, but now they have gone to far. Tomorrow my child
will be wearing the same shade of blue to school, but this time he will
be accompanied by me and his father. I would like to join in the efforts
that you are making to abolish this uniform policy.
Sincerely,
L___ and _____ ______
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I have heard the following:
1. Hundreds of children are arriving out of uniform and being
coerced into compliance.
2. Children were segregated from their parents and given "pep
talks". Then the children accepted loaner uniforms. Parents
could not witness the talk.
3. The policy specifies that the shirt be colored, but does not
exclude patterns. Children were persecuted for patterned shirts.
4. The policy specifies a "navy blue" shirt, but principals across
the county are allowing all shades of blue as long as the shirt is collared.
5. The policy states "dark blue jeans", all shades and styles
have been witnessed.
6. A kindergartner had her sweater taken by the principal, who
cited that she had the wrong color and inappropriate clothing.
7. A kindergartner was re-dressed in front of all office staff
and visitors.
8. A kindergartner was covered by a school tee-shirt that was
at least 3 sizes too big for her. She arrived on campus in an adorable
yellow printed set of overalls.
Personal Experiences
My children arrived on Monday wearing shirts that bore the message,
"Jesus loves me!." Children were told to change into loaner shirts.
They complied and went to class. Tuesday, the kids arrived in off
color tee-shirts with the message, "Hey Reynolds - Uniforms must go! -
And so should you!" pinned to their shirts. Told to change and not
wear the message. Oldest child accidentally arrived without a belt
and was cited for this horrendous offense against mankind. They complied
and
went to class.
Wednesday, they will wear shirts with American Flags and the message, "God Bless America!." They will change into a loaner. Note that they were told that they would wear the same shirt on Wednesday as on Tuesday. They were also told that the shirts would not be washed! This really bothers both of my older children.
By the way, the youngest will never be out of uniform. We do not think that he is capable of understanding the protest process. He is in Kindergarten.
Tim Tillman
Founding member of
The Parental Action Committee
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Here ya go. I gotta make this quick, so sorry about any typos. Already got booted once. Yesterday they gave a shirt to wear because she had on a black collared blouse. Tucked in, with belt. I know..not the right color. (ack)
Today she chose to wear a white polo shirt with the attached picture
ironed on her sleeve. The size is roughly 3 x 5. The teacher
was unsure, so she asked advice from another teacher and was sent to the
office. Crystal then called me and I took her another shirt.
I asked the principle, Mrs. Smith, what was wrong with it. She replied
that it was not allowed. I asked her
about the buttons and arm bands and etc. I told her that iron-ons fell
into the category of "etc." She told me it was not allowed.
I asked her about the 1st amendment and she had nothing to say, beside,
"this is not allowed".
Gotta run..gonna be late for work. Let me know how it goes. Thanks
L.
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