Last Tuesday night inside the Loudoun County Public School Administration Building, the School Board primarily met to finalize and approve the dress code, honored Leslee King, and discussed the vaccination policy for student-athletes. 

After a long awaited revision of the LCPS dress code, the school board unanimously approved this new version at last night’s meeting. 

The main principle of this rewrite is intended to provide for student comfort above all else, and prioritize the student body’s freedom of expression alongside uninhibited opportunities for participation in school. An important distinction they made sure to include actually maintained that “a student’s choice of clothing should not be blamed as a distraction to the learning environment,” and is further testament to their commitment to student’s rights. 

According to the policy, students must be clothed in a shirt, bottoms, shoes, and appropriate dress for physical education classes. These rules were additionally merged into one list, regardless of gender identity and expression under the value of their recently-passed Policy 8040. 

The School Board is placing the responsibility on the parent to ensure the new dress code is followed. The policy states, “The student dress code supports our goal of inspiring students to learn while leaving primary decisions around student clothing and style to students and their parents or guardians. Our expectation is that parents and guardians are responsible for ensuring student compliance with the school’s dress code, and students are responsible for knowing the student dress code and for complying during school hours and school activities.” 

Some new introductions include hats (and religious headwear), hoodies, fitted pants like leggings and skinny jeans, ripped jeans (unless they reveal underwear), and shirts with “spaghetti straps.” Despite a much less restrictive set of rules, students should avoid profanity or offensive symbols in addition to clothing which exposes private parts and extreme exposure of undergarments. 

In terms of realistic enforcement, teachers are encouraged to unbiasedly address violations and do their best to avoid shaming or embarrassing students in front of their peers and otherwise distracting from the primary focus of academic pursuits. 

“I definitely think the dress code without the restrictions is a lot better. It gives people the opportunity to express themselves through their clothing and not feel confined, and also lets girls not have to feel uncomfortable and wear hoodies or oversized clothes because of their bodies, which is a really good thing to have,” Kyndall Campbell explained. 

In addition to the discussions of student dress, a memorial to departed school board member Leslee King warmly remembered her pride for defending minority students and a special affinity for knitting. 

Other discourse accounted for the details behind required athletic and teacher vaccinations, to which the public comment displayed heavy concern and prompted discussion regarding the rationality and possible exceptions to the rule.