Macon Reporter

Decatur School District Student Services Director, Lawrence Trimble, recently announced the district’s recommendation to eliminate uniform requirements.

The district tested a pilot program of eliminating school uniforms from their schools with a ‘no uniform month’ in May, Trimble explained at a June 14 board of education meeting. Following the trial run, a survey found that 72% of students, parents, and teachers support removing uniform requirements. Those respondents said the no uniform dress code was easier to implement and less than half of respondents saw a decrease in discipline due to the change.

"So, the recommendation from the high school is to align with the feedback that we received and that being to eliminate the high school uniform policy as a requirement and then just go with a specific dress code," Trimble said at the meeting.

According to the 2021 Decatur School District's Code of Conduct, the school uniform requirement was only instituted at the district’s high schools - Eisenhower and MacArthur. Acceptable colors per the code were black, grey, white, and yellow for Eisenhower and blue, black, grey, and white for MacArthur. Clothing banks with loaner items were available to students who needed them. Students could be sent home for failure to comply.

The new dress code includes requirements for skin coverage in certain areas and to certain extents, prohibits any hats or head coverings that are not for religious reasons, and does not allow any vulgarity, nudity, alcohol, or drug paraphernalia on any clothing. The board plans to discuss a clothing bank at a future board meeting.

The district’s specialty school, American Dreamers STEM Academy, will still require uniforms in the next school year.