Uniforms in WCC Schools

Sept 2009

My child just started kindergarten in a WCCUSD school that has a uniform policy. I thought the uniform policy was district-wide, but the other day I happened to drive past another school as it was letting out and I noticed that the kids were uniform-less. Then another friend mentioned to me that her child's school abandoned their uniform requirements.

Are the WCCUSD schools moving away from uniforms? I'm not a uniform idealogue--I can go with the flow. But my kid has this habit of growing all the time so I'm forever on the hunt for good deals on polo shirts, etc. If the uniforms are being phased out, I won't bother. uniform hunter

We have put 2 of our kids thru the WCCUSD and have our third in K, I was told the district is in no way phasing out uniforms. Uniforms are ''mandatory but the policy is not enforced.'' Our school has about 60% compliance. Seems to vary school-by- school, in terms of how many parents follow the guidelines. love the uniforms!

The policy is the same throughout the district. Parents can complete a waiver to have their children exempted from the uniform policy. However, the number of parents who complete this form varies widely from campus to campus. You might want to look around your child's school and see how many children are wearing uniforms, then contact the principal if you'd like a waiver. Some people get waivers even if they intend to have their child wear the uniform most of the time, just in case there are days when they aren't able to dress their child in the uniform.

As a WCCUSD employee and parent I find that I am just as frustrated in the uniform policy as you seem. The school board mandates that the district have a uniform policy. (The reasons behind this seem to stem from the belief that students who wear uniforms to school have higher test scores. You can find board minutes on the district website that cite the ''research'' to support this belief.) Then when the policy was written they build in a waiver application, so they wouldn't be sued by families that feel this is a violation of their rights. At some schools lots of families apply for, and receive waivers, and at others they dont. Additionally, when the policy was written the district made it impossible for schools to do anything about children who come to school without a uniform or the waiver.

So, even at schools where there aren't at a lot of families who have requested waivers, it could be a school where the principal is choosing not to enforce the uniform policy because there isn't really much that can be done about it. I have not heard of any plans rescind the policy. Personally I think they should either make the uniform policy uniform (ie: you wear it or your parents have to bring you a uniform before you go to class) or they should get rid of it all together because it really isn't a good idea to teach students that they need to follow some rules, but not others. WCCUSD parent

don't know what WCCUSD school you're at, but my kids are at Hilltop-- ever since the uniform policy was instated, parents at Hilltop have had the option to sign a waiver (start of every year) and ''opt out'' of the uniform as long as the students follow the dress code, which is fine. This is what we've done from day one-- and I will say that some families' kids at Hilltop still wear the uniform, but they are far outnumbered by the ones that don't. anon

By state law, there is a uniform waiver form. Some schools deny having access to the form and don't even advise parents that it exists. However, at some schools over 75% of the families have waivered out, at other schools fewer than 10 families waivered out. It just depends on the school's culture and availability of the form. If you would like to waiver out, try searching the wccusd web site for the form. non-uniform mom