Public School Uniform Proposal Left Out to Dry

The public school uniform idea for Manalapan-Englishtown schools has officially been discarded. According to school principals, dress code enforcement is not that much of an issue, which was the general consensus at last week’s Board of Education meeting on Sept. 13.  

“I think the general feeling after we had the meeting with the principals was that they understand it [the dress code], the children understand it, and we feel that we’ve been enforcing it reasonably,” said Superintendent John Marciante Jr.  

Prior to this meeting, Marciante had called a meeting of all principals of grades one through eight to discuss current dress code, but he thought it would be a good idea if they met with the Board in person.

The principals who attended the meeting were Robert Williams of , John Spalthoff of , Jacqueline Martin of , and Gregory Duffy of Lafayette Mills. Principal Kimberly Pickus of was absent.  

The discussion began with the lower grades. District-wide in grades one through five, the dress code appears in the student handbook.

Martin said she instructs staff at Wemrock Brook to report issues to the nurse or the office. She also asks staff to “practice what you preach” and dress for work approriately. The two issues she sees within Wemrock Brook are short shorts and inappropriate styles of shirts.

At Lafayette Mills, Principal Gregory Duffy believes flip-flops are a safety issue for everyone and they are banned. Although a phone call to a parent may be placed over dress code, Duffy would not ask the child to leave school completely.  

“For [grades] one to five, to send a child home is equivalent to suspension,” said Duffy, who cited New Jersey administrative code. If a style of dress does not cause a distraction to education, Duffy said he would not feel confident justifying a suspension.

In the lower grades, parents have been called in the past about dress code issues. Shirts are on hand in the nurse’s office if a parent cannot bring another article of clothing.

For the sixth graders at Pine Brook School, Spalthoff  told the Board that dress code is a more noticeable issue. He and the Pine Brook staff try to stop students coming into the building who are improperly dressed before they report to class. Spalthoff also said that dress code problems occur during the warmer months, in the beginning of the school year and later in the spring.

“When you sometimes make it inconvenient for that parent to have to deal with the dress code, then it no longer becomes an issue anymore,” said Spalthoff, who does not hesitate to call home to parents.

“Did I make a lot of friends? Possibly not. But my personal opinion is that this is our dress code, and it needs to be maintained,” Spalthoff added. 

Spalthoff and Williams were happy to report that the dress style where boys wear their pants low and reveal undergarments is no longer a real issue. The fad is fading, they said.

Board President Michelle Stipelman then asked the principals about the idea of a dress code that would involve a casual uniform of different color polo shirts and long pants. She asked if some people would like the idea or be annoyed by it.  

“Quite honestly, I think the survey gave you that direction,” said Williams, citing the which had revealed a roughly even divide. Spalthoff agreed, saying that before he attended this meeting, two parents stopped him at a PTA meeting - one loved the idea and one was opposed.  

Board Member Annamarie Galante maintains that a whole uniform is “a little eccentric” and that it would be kept simple with various options.  

“It also has to do with grooming, too. Their clothes are not clean; they’re not groomed well - a lot of our kids,” said Galante. “Yes, a lot of our kids are, but you have those kids that are just not well-kept. And in their everyday clothes, they look like those are the clothes they came to school, slept in, and came back in.”  She still feels that dress is a distraction to learning.

However, the principals disagreed that it is a significant problem standing in the way of their goals.

“I’m not having a problem as principal enforcing [the dress code], and sending them on to Mr. Spalthoff or Mr. Williams,” said Duffy. As long as I can focus on learning, I’ll be very attentive.”

After the roughly 20 minute conversation, the principals were dismissed.

“We were talking about the dress code policy and strengthening the dress code policy,” said Stipelman to the Board. “Apparently they don’t believe that it’s a problem. So I guess the way it is will stand. We’ll just go with the status quo and when and if it becomes a problem, we’ll have to look at it again.”