SCHOOL TO HALT MANDATORY UNIFORMS CITING POLICY'S FAILURE JUST 150 TO 200 OF THE 1,380 STUDENTS COMPLY MOST DAYS.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - Though uniforms are mandatory at Sierra Vista Junior High School, it's hard to find a student dressed in the required solid-colored polo shirt, shorts, pants or school T-shirt.

So after years of requiring students to dress uniformly, administrators at the Canyon Country campus expect to do away with the policy, citing lack of parental and student support.

``We hoped that a vast majority of the parents would support the policy, and at one time they did,'' Principal Randy Parker said Monday. ``We didn't anticipate that so many parents would lose interest. It's very disappointing.''

School administrators have asked the board of the William S. Hart Union High School District to drop the uniform requirement and ask that a voluntary program be implemented for the coming school year.

``We'll never discourage students from wearing a uniform, but it will just be on a voluntary basis,'' Parker said.

The move comes as school officials estimate that just 150 to 200 of the 1,380 students wear uniforms on a given day.

``I just don't like uniforms and the way they look,'' said eighth-grader Jessica Smith, 14.

Dressed in blue jeans and a blue T-shirt, Smith said she wants to choose what she wears.

On Monday, Jeremy Rosario, 14, wore long jeans shorts, a white T-shirt and a red checked button-down shirt. He said he found uniforms too restrictive.

``When you wear a uniform, you can't be yourself,'' Rosario said. ``You don't have your own personality.''

Parental support for the school uniform policy started fading about two years ago, and by June 2001 as many as 100 parents chose to ``opt out'' and told school administrators their children would not conform to the requirement.

The ``opt-out'' condition is required by state law for all public schools to avoid discrimination due to religious or personal reasons. Parents do not have to state their reason for opting out.

As the number of parents wishing to opt-out continued to increase, Parker said the large number of students asking for the exemption would make their policy difficult to enforce.

``Trying to enforce the policy with several hundred students choosing not to participate is impossible,'' Parker said. ``Teachers don't want to sacrifice class time figuring out who's opting out.''

Though he made attempts to encourage parents to support the uniform policy, Parker said the numbers opting out continued to rise, with 105 during the 2001-02 school year registration, 200 by the first week of school, to a list that now exceeds 450 students.

Carol Kettelkamp said she met with administrators last year to ``opt out'' her daughter, who is now an eighth-grader.

``We bought all the uniforms when she started, and when it looked like the school wasn't enforcing it, we eventually opted out,'' Kettelkamp said. ``You either have a uniform policy or you don't.''

Kettelkamp said she liked the uniform policy but felt that participation should be greater.

``I don't think the uniform policy is a bad idea,'' she said. ``I see the value. But it has to be enforced.''

Though the mandatory policy would no longer be in effect, the school still has a strong dress and grooming code that prohibits see-through fabrics, spaghetti straps, off-the-shoulder, low cut tops or open-midriff tops, excessively baggy pants and undergarments that can be seen.

Also prohibited is clothing that advocates drugs, alcohol, tobacco or gang affiliations. Clothing, jewelry and accessories should also be free of writing, pictures or any insignia that is crude, vulgar, profane or sexually suggestive.

While Rosario didn't favor the uniform policy, he felt that the dress code was sufficient for a junior high campus.

``The dress code is OK, but the uniform policy is not cool,'' said Rosario, who was sent to the office on Friday for wearing a T-shirt bearing a girl dressed in a bikini.

Such garb was the reason three of the four Hart District junior highs - backed by parents - made uniforms mandatory.

``All the research shows that students in junior high school do better with a uniform policy,'' said Dennis King, a member of the Hart board.

Still, the district has had a tough time persuading some parents.

In 1999, the American Civil Liberties Union accused the district of failing to notify parents of their right to opt out.

``Because of the way state statute is written, we can't require absolute compliance,'' King said. ``There's nothing we can do about it.''

The letter came following complaints from a parent at La Mesa Junior High School who felt that her daughter shouldn't have to wear what the school required.

Parents also complained that a single vendor was inadequate and the school district open up to uniforms purchased through regular retailers such as Kmart, Target and Mervyns.

The requirement of a school logo was also eliminated.

Uniform policy was never adopted at Arroyo Seco Junior High School but still remains successful at La Mesa Junior High School and Placerita Junior High School, where the majority wears uniforms.

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(color) Sierra Vista Junior High School is dropping its requirement of uniforms for its students. School officials say noncompliance by students has undermined the policy.

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