JCDB, Student Dress Code

Guidelines for acceptable, normal, good grooming should be taught and enforced in the home by the parents as part of their responsibility in training their children for responsible citizenship. All students are required to be responsible in their dress and grooming by avoiding extremes and manifesting self-discipline with regards to these regulations. Cooperation of parents is essential. Cleanliness shall be a basic consideration. For health and safety reasons, students must wear shoes to school. The school administrator shall be the final interpreter of the dress code.

The policy of the Sabine Parish School Board is that no mode of attire shall be considered proper for school wear that distracts or disrupts classroom and school decorum.

The School Board shall notify the parent or guardian of each student of the dress code specifications and their effective date. The dress code shall be distributed in written form or posted on the school’s website annually.

If the School Board adopts a new uniform policy or modifies an existing uniform policy, it shall notify in writing the parent or guardian of each student of the policy adoption or uniform policy modification at least sixty (60) days prior to the effective date of the new or revised policy. Each school shall display any uniform selected for a reasonable period prior to the proposed effective date for wearing of the uniform.

However, nothing shall prohibit the School Board from requiring a new or revised dress code or uniform policy without the required notice in the event of an emergency. For the purposes of this policy, emergency shall mean an actual or imminent threat to health or safety which may result in loss of life, injury, or property damage.

Student dress and grooming are not to adversely affect the students' participation in classes, school programs, or other school-related activities or detract from the learning environment of the school. Extremes in style and fit in student dress and extremes in style of grooming shall not be permitted. Administrators are authorized to use their discretion in determining extremes in styles of dress and grooming and what is appropriate and suitable for school wear. No student shall wear, possess, use, distribute, display or sell any clothing, jewelry, emblem, blade, symbols, sign or other things which are evidence of affiliation with tobacco, drugs, alcohol, or violence or gang related activities or exhibits profane or obscene language/gestures.

The School Board shall not exclude a student on account of a natural, protective or cultural hairstyle. Natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle shall include, but is not limited to, afros, dreadlocks, twists, locs, braids, cornrow braids, Bantu knots, curls, and hair styled to protect hair texture or for cultural significance.

It shall be unlawful and against School Board policy for any student or non-student to wear or possess on his/her person, at any time, body armor on any School Board property, school campus, at a school-sponsored function, on a school bus or other school transportation, or in a firearm-free zone, with limited exceptions as enumerated in La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §14:95.9, which includes permitting a student to wear, carry, or possess a backpack on school property or a school bus that has bullet-resistant metal or other material intended to provide protection from weapons or bodily injury.

School-sponsored functions shall include, but not be limited to, athletic competitions, dances, parties, or any extracurricular activities. A firearm-free zone means any area inclusive of any school campus and within 1,000 feet of any such school campus, and within a school bus, wherein the possession of firearms is prohibited, except as specifically set forth in La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§14:95.2(C) and 14:95.6(B).

Body armor shall mean bullet-resistant metal or other material intended to provide protection from weapons or bodily injury.

For students not required to wear uniforms, the student and parents may determine the student’s personal dress and grooming standards, provided they comply with the guidelines in this policy and with the student dress code outlined in the student handbook.

For students required to wear uniforms, the student must follow the dress code as outlined in the student handbook and comply with the guidelines in this policy.

Based on the premise that a safe and disciplined learning environment is a prerequisite to a quality learning environment, it shall be the policy of the Sabine Parish School Board, on a school-by-school basis, to make uniforms mandatory in schools where survey results indicate agreement by a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) of the votes cast by school/campus parents. For the parent survey to be valid there must be a seventy-five percent (75%) survey return rate. Each family shall be permitted one vote for each affected child attending the school. The mandatory uniform practice can be revoked using the same process by which uniforms were mandated. Any school which has opted for mandatory uniforms shall survey the parents at least once every four (4) years regarding continuation or discontinuation of mandatory uniforms.

General guidelines governing the school uniform policy will apply and are indicated below:

An established religious tenet requiring the wearing of specific garb/dress,
Physical disability or certified medical condition that prevents the wearing of all or part of the school uniform, or
Constitutionally protected rights.

Parents may apply for an exemption by making a written request to the school principal no later than the month of May prior to the year of implementation. For new students moving into the school community during the school year, the exemption request must be completed within two (2) weeks following enrollment.

Note: This policy shall have prospective application only and shall not invalidate programs at individual schools previously approved. Future changes at such schools shall be subject to the approval levels and general guidelines set forth herein.

Students who violate the dress code shall be disciplined in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct.

A student enrolled in grades prekindergarten through five shall not be suspended or expelled from school or suspended from riding on any school bus for a uniform violation that is not tied to willful disregard of school policies.

Revised: June, 2003	Revised: September 20, 2010
Revised: October, 2003	Revised: February 6, 2012
Revised: June, 2004	Revised: October 19, 2015
Revised: February, 2008	Revised: September 10, 2018
Revised: February 2, 2009	Revised: September 12, 2022