North Little Rock students and parents overwhelmingly oppose school uniforms, according to a survey conducted by the North Little Rock School District last year.
Superintendent Gregory Pilewski said during a workshop Thursday that the School Board requested last year that the school district gather survey data regarding whether students and parents favored school uniforms.
Micheal Stone, executive director of student and equity services, presented on Thursday results of the survey that asked one question: Should there be a school uniform?
The survey was sent out to elementary, middle school and academy students and parents.
According to the data collected from 1,623 students and 1,385 parents, results overwhelmingly indicated that both groups preferred not to have a school uniform policy. Total district data showed 91% of students and 79% of parents voted against having a school uniform policy.
The highest percentage of "no" responses came from students in the seventh and eighth grades, where 97% of the 290 students and 91% of the 216 parents responded by saying there shouldn't be a school uniform.
"Just when you thought the percentages couldn't get any higher, the students at the seventh- and eighth-grade campus had 97%," Stone told School Board members.
The information caught some board members off guard.
"I was surprised. I thought it would be a little closer," said Cindy Temple, the School Board president. "I thought maybe it would be 50/50."
The School Board voted in August not to require the district's elementary and middle-school students to wear uniforms. Instead, the school district has been using a dress code similar to the one that is used at the high school.
The dress code requires that students wear shoes, and that clothing must cover underwear, a student's back, midriff, chest and buttocks. Half-shirts, tube tops, see-through and mesh shirts or any tops without a back are not allowed. Skirts and shorts must be of appropriate length and no shorter than mid-thigh around the leg.
Yoga pants, leggings, jeggings and any spandex or skin-tight garment must be covered by another garment that provides minimum coverage.
Sunglasses or any attire that covers the face is prohibited, along with hats, do-rags, hoods, curlers, picks, bandannas and combs. Any clothing that promotes alcohol, drugs, weapons, tobacco, gang affiliation, sexuality or profanity is also prohibited.
Stone said the decision to ditch the school uniform requirement in August was made to help families who have been impacted financially by the covid-19 pandemic and were unable to purchase uniforms for their students.
The uniform policy for elementary, middle school and academy students required female students to wear any solid color shirt with no emblems or logo and any solid color undershirt. Skirts, pants and shorts had to be solid khaki or navy, and shorts couldn't be shorter than 3 inches above the knee.
Boys had to wear solid color collared shirts with no emblems, with pants or shorts that were solid khaki or solid navy. Cargo pockets were not permitted.
Boys and girls were required to wear solid color belts, socks and shoes, and all shirts were to be tucked into pants, skirts, skorts, shorts, capris or jumpers.
Uniforms have been widely used in Central Arkansas and have been around for years, but uniform policies really began to take off in public schools during the 1990s.
According to a Britannica ProCon.org article, President Bill Clinton spoke about school uniforms during his 1996 State of the Union speech.
"[I]f it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms," Clinton said.
The Little Rock School District includes dress standards in its policy, but individual schools decide whether to ask students to wear certain colors and styles. The Pulaski County Special district has required uniforms as well. Uniforms are more likely to be used at the elementary and middle schools rather than high schools.
Stone told School Board members that as a parent it is easier for him to know what his children were going to wear every day, but as a building administrator he has to respect the data.
"I have talked to several [school officials] out there, and what I am getting is that they are having no problems with bullying or kids misbehaving because they are not wearing uniforms," he said. "I would like to take their lead on that. Talked to school principals last week and they aren't having problems.
"I think the times have changed, and I think the kids may have changed as well. My thoughts are to go with the data."
The School Board didn't make an official decision regarding the uniform policy, but members mentioned that it might be time to take a closer look at the dress code and what can be done in the future.
"We can bring it to the board for a deep dive," Pilewski said. "I would highly recommend that we do that. This way we can make comparisons and tweaks."