Approved 

After hours of discussion and debate, two board meetings, and hearing from members of the public, Callaway Public Schools finally has a new dress code policy. Well…almost.

You may recall from a previous article that the Callaway Board of Education had a rather lengthy and somewhat contentious discussion regarding the district’s proposed dress code policy during the August board meeting. When it came time to vote on adopting that policy the board was split down the middle, three for and three against, so the discussion was tabled until the September meeting.

That meeting took place on Tuesday, Sept. 9, in front of a packed room of students and community members. The public was given an opportunity to sign in if they would like to share their thoughts during the public comment portion of the meeting, and five patrons did just that. But before we get into what was shared, let's look at the policy itself and where the disagreement lies.

The policy currently in place in the district is labeled Student Appearance. It was adopted by unanimous approval of the board in July 2024, and clearly outlines the kinds of apparel all board members agree should not be allowed: clothing promoting products illegal for use by minors, displaying obscene material, profanity, or reference to prohibited conduct. No other specific types of clothing are mentioned in this policy.

The policy also leaves the judgment of what is acceptable and what is not in the hands of the school administration. It states: “It shall be the responsibility of the superintendent in conjunction with the princi-

Cont. PAGE 5: Dress Code Policy pals, to develop administrative regulations regarding this policy.”

The new policy proposed by the board’s policy committee and discussed at the August board meeting include all of the same banned clothing items, but also includes the following specific apparel: shorts, skirts, or pants that do not provide adequate coverage; and shirts such as spaghetti straps, tank tops with thin upper strips, shirts that show a bare midriff, or shirts that have been modified to show the side profile of the individual wearing it.

These specific apparel items were the primary objection of some of the board members to the proposed new policy. Board member Rhonda Pandorf was so bothered by the wording that she was first on the list to share her thoughts. As she stepped away from the table where she was seated and out of her position as a board member, she stepped into the role of district patron and mom of Callaway students. She reiterated the fact that a dress code policy had been recently approved and adopted, and questioned why it was back before the board.

“The message in our policy is fairly simple. Yet here we are a year and a half later and, in my opinion, wasting time hashing it out again. I believe it was because the student handbook did not align with the policy. Simple fix. You align the handbook with the policy that we approved,” Pandorf said as she addressed the board. “We need to look at what is happening. Is it really the student’s clothing that is the problem, or is it the adults who are making a big deal out of the clothing?”

Pandorf pointed to the two sections listed in the proposed policy outlining the specific clothing items as the part of the policy she disagrees with. “It has verbiage that is not only outdated, but it targets one gender over another,” she stated. “If we are going to prepare our kids for the future I think the focus needs to be on learning, not policing what they are wearing.”

Amy Birkel addressed the board, sharing that she believes the current policy is “very well-written and covers the broad scope of what is appropriate or inappropriate without targeting specific items that are worn mostly by the females in our school”. “In the education world today our students would be better served if we help them receive scholarships, or complete job shadows or internships, or even helping them to be kind individuals. Instead, we are spending time on a student appearance policy for the second month in a row, a policy that was adopted by the exact board a little over a year ago,” Birkel shared.

Superintendent JD Furrow interjected that the reason that this policy came back up for discussion in the first place is because of state statute that added some parameters to the dress policy in general. “Nobody on the board picked it out and said we need to review this because it wasn’t a good policy,” Furrow said.

Board member Liana Hrupek then clarified that the extra parameters instituted by the state have no effect on the items in the newly proposed policy being discussed, and those new guidelines could have simply been added to the existing policy.

Next to address the board was Lana Phelps, who questioned why those board members who oppose the new policy voted to approve the student handbook, which uses the same verbiage outlining specific clothing items.

Dean Haidle commented, “It doesn’t matter what the policy book says, it must be enforced. It also breaks my heart to find out that through the years at music festivals, our group has been docked because of dress code. Dress matters.”

Past educator and former speech coach Sue Phelps also shared some thoughts. She urged them to listen to the school’s educators and let them help, as they know first hand what are distractions and problems. She also urged the board to research the dress codes of other area schools and work to align CPS with those neighboring schools.

David Pandorf was the final community member to address the board. He shared that he believes having what is allowed and not allowed specifically spelled out in policy is the best practice. “For these kids, anywhere they go to work is going to have some type of dress code. So why not learn what is appropriate and not appropriate in school?,” said Pandorf.

In the discussion that followed the community comments, Principal Heath Birkel was asked to share his thoughts. He noted that he is willing to enforce the policy, but feels he needs some guidance on specifically what that looks like.

The board was in agreement that the policy and student handbook need to align. There was some debate, however, on what constitutes a “distraction” to the learning environment. The discussion also included reviewing the dress code policies from some of the neighboring school districts, and all board members agreed they were comfortable with the verbiage contained in Anselmo-Merna’s policy.

With only the two sections of the proposed policy pertaining to specific clothing items being debated, the board agreed to replace those two sections with the wording used in the A-M policy. The revised policy was later approved on first reading, with TR Anderson voting no and all other members in favor. The policy will now come back before the board at the October meeting for second reading and adoption.

A special meeting of the board for a tax levy hearing and budget approval was set for Sept. 24 at 7:30 a.m. The next regular meeting of the Callaway school board will be Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. .