Wake schools look to adopt gender-neutral dress code

Wake County school board chairman Jim Martin said, up until Tuesday’s discussion, the only place a dress code existed was under the violations section in the student code of conduct.

The change comes after many students, most of them girls, complained that the current dress code is outdated and targets female students.

“I think that when you’re looking at the dress code policy, there’s a difference between language that prohibits specific things that take us away from gender-neutral positive language, and language that is absent of that prohibition doesn’t mean that there isn’t consideration for it anyway,” Superintendent Cathy Moore said.

Inside the meeting, it became apparent that changing the dress code is about more than clothing. It's about finding a balance between an environment where students aren't feeling unnecessarily targeted and one that is still conducive to learning.

Martin said school leaders are looking to lay out expectations for students' clothing, not just violations.

"If we think about the workplace standard, I actually think we're going to get more effective results than if I just gave you a list of, you know, your shoulder straps can only be this wide," Martin said.

Martin admits the complaints from female students are valid.

"The classic implementation of the dress code does unfairly target women," he said.

Imani Owens is proud of her daughter, Lydia, who has been recognized for her academic and extracurricular achievements at Ligon Middle School. She hopes that her daughter's focus will remain on her education, instead of concerns about her wardrobe, as school leaders hash out the changes to the dress code.

"The main thing that kind of frustrates young ladies is that they felt targeted. They felt like they weren't supported. So, again, it's nice to have a community that supports young ladies in a way that we don't have to even think about it for young men," Owens said.

A final draft of the new policy is expected this spring.