Changes in Burns Middle School dress code brought before school board

By Sharon Lurie | on August 02, 2023

Recent changes to the Burns Middle School dress code drew both praise and criticism from parents, teachers, and students before being brought before the Dickson County School Board at its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, July 27.

The school board voted 4-2 to reverse changes made to the Burns code, deeming that Principal Dr. Corey Duke did not follow board policy in implementing changes he made to the school dress code in May.

BMS parent Sam Williams told the school board Thursday night that after his rising sixth grader had visited the school at the end of the 2022-23 school year, Duke sent an email, dated May 26, to all parents saying the dress code for the upcoming school year had been updated, and that only blue jeans or slacks, dresses, and skirts would be allowed.

The dress code from the 2022-2023 school year allowed for dresses, shorts and skirts that touched the knee and leggings, provided the leggings were worn with dresses and shirts that also touched the knee. In the email attachment, the new dress code started out with “As a result of stakeholder input from teachers, students, and parents…” Williams said in speaking with other parents and members of the student council, he couldn’t find anyone who said they were included or asked for input in making the dress code changes.

Both Williams and BMS parent Angie Nichols spoke out against the new dress code, saying it didn’t allow for growing bodies and placed an extra financial burden on parents.

“Anything with an elastic or drawstring waist leaves room for growth, which means a little more time before having to replace them. In the case of girls, leggings are much more than a fashion statement. They allow for growth and accommodate a variety of body types. In the case of my daughter, we will have to accommodate her long legs and short waist with jeans and slacks, which will now be the only options, and with the exception of long skirts, have to buy pants with built-in elastic expanders in order to pull the waist in,” Nichols said.

Duke addressed the board and the decision to only allow dresses, skirts, jeans, and slacks stemmed from disruptions in the school from having to deal with dress code violations and repeat offenders, stating issues with boys rolling up their shorts way past the required knee length.

“We had 80 recorded dress code violations during the school year, which does not include students rolling and unrolling their bottoms in the dress code. This happens daily. We’ve had discussions with them as groups in the cafeteria, classroom and various other places to get the student body to follow corrections. When discussing dress code violations for the faculty and staff at our recent in-service, when asked if they sent everybody up who violated dress code, no hands were raised. My entire faculty said they had multiple violations that weren’t sent for discipline. They were addressed in the classroom because of the times they devoted for the issue. When asked why they didn’t refer each one to the office, they said, number one, it would be all they would be doing, and number two, ‘the kids wouldn’t be in my class.’ ”

Williams said Duke acted in violation of school board policy, which states, “The Board authorizes a school to go above and beyond these dress guidelines and develop a more specific code. When this is desired, the principal shall solicit input from staff, parents, and students and submit such proposal to the Board in the spring prior to the implementation of such program for the following academic year.”

3rd District school board member Steve Haley said the board’s vote wasn’t about whether the dress code changes were right or wrong, but whether Duke followed policy when he made them. The two dissenting votes were made by Board Chairman and 1st District member Kirk Vandivort and 4th District member Philip Chadwick. Vandivort contended that Duke was within his rights to make the changes to the dress code since he was addressing an ongoing problem, citing a provision on the school board dress code policy which states, “The school administration has the right to determine whether the student’s attire is within the limits of decency and modesty. In matters of opinion, the judgment of the principal/designee shall prevail.”

6th District school board member Aaron Parker said that four BMS teachers, whose names he wouldn’t reveal, told them they were in favor of the change and they were having issues with the boys rolling their shorts up to the point that they were exposing themselves to the girls.

A BMS teacher who spoke to The Dickson Post on the condition of anonymity said, “The original dress code stated that shorts must come to the knee. We were very lenient with this. I do not know any teacher that wrote the kids up if the shorts didn’t touch the knee. We all understand how hard it is to find shorts to touch the knee. It became an issue when the boys started rolling their shorts so that they would be extremely high and inappropriate. Most of the time their boxers would hang out of the bottom. By the end of the year the boys would show up wearing swimming trunks. Keep in mind that the girls would never wear shorts because they couldn’t find any long enough. As far as the leggings, the original dress code states that if leggings are worn a shirt must touch the knee all the way around. Again we were all very lenient with this as long as they would wear shirts that would cover their bottoms. However, we had girls wearing shirts that did not cover their bottoms and they even started wearing crop tops with leggings (the crop tops are against dress code anyway). By the end of the year the girls were wearing leggings that were very thin and bright colored underwear so you could see them. This was not just the eighth graders that some people claim. It was mainly seventh and eighth grade, with some sixth graders following. Please note that it is not as noticeable with sixth graders because they are quite a bit smaller. This took up a considerable amount of time from teachers for dress code. I would say at least three to four times a week I would send a student to the office for dress code. Dr. Duke would address the dress code violation with the parents.”

Duke told the board the first violation for dress code comes with a warning and parents having to come to the school to provide proper clothing, followed by in-school suspensions for subsequent violations.

The BMS teacher said, “Yes, Dr. Duke did consult with me as well as several other teachers about the dress code changes. Let me say this. It wasn’t even his idea. But he has taken the backlash for it. The leadership team met to discuss the issues we have had and dress code was the biggest issue. Therefore there was an issue and our school was looking for a solution. I 100 percent feel that eliminating shorts and leggings would fix the issue. If they are not allowed to wear them then they can’t modify them to break dress code.”

Board members pledged support to Duke, though his dress code changes were overturned, in help with enforcing discipline for repeat offenders and discussed which options would be best to address persistent dress code violaters, such as sending them to New Directions Academy or involving the Dickson County Juvenile Court.

While some BMS parents on social media expressed support for a stricter dress code, others expressed frustration, stating the changes punish the well-behaved majority for the actions of a few, and they didn’t like how the changes for a stricter dress code were implemented.

Naomi Grace said, “I thought it was clever they tried to sneak it in at the end of a school year so there was an entire summer break to let things die down. The email states that teachers, parents and students were a part of the decision process, but I never received any information regarding a meeting discussing changing the dress code. Perhaps it was at a school board meeting, or perhaps specific parents and students were asked to weigh in. The dress code is bizarre and I have disagreed with it since my child started school. Why are tank tops forbidden? How are shoulders distracting? How do shoulders prevent students from learning and teachers from teaching? Why were straight-legged leggings forbidden last year but flared-legged leggings were okay? Has the school determined something about the lower half of a child’s leg is distracting and detrimental to their learning or the learning of others?”

Some parents said they didn’t understand why the dress codes vary from school to school, as they believe that isn’t fair and causes confusion. Burns, Charlotte and Dickson Middle Schools share the same dress code concerning shorts, skirts, and dresses and shirts worn over leggings in that they must touch the knee, whereas William James Middle allows the length for the aforementioned to be one inch above the knee.

In voting that Duke did not follow school board dress code policy in prohibiting shorts and leggings, BMS will revert to the dress code from the 2022-2023 school year. Duke alerted parents the day after the school board meeting that the previous dress code would go back into effect, and that those who broke the dress code would receive a warning the first time and be required to change clothes, then receive an in-school suspension for the second offense, and additional offenses thereafter would result in in-school suspension for two days and a petition to Juvenile Court.