Parents and the community have been extremely supportive, and teachers and principals think it's great. Of the 54,000 elementary and middle school students required to wear school uniforms in Polk schools, only a few have showed up in street clothes and been sent home. Reynolds says he's confident the school system will prevail in court. An Arizona state judge in fall 1995 upheld a Phoenix middle school's uniform policy, which like Polk County's, did not include an opt-out provision. The decision was one of the first legal tests of school dress codes.
Few superintendents feel such Draconian measures are necessary, however.
And in an effort to avoid ruffling too many feathers and avoid litigation, most school systems moving to uniforms will continue to allow students to opt out. Indeed, many administrators say parents and students are so satisfied with school uniforms that there's no need to force the issue. We ve had very few complaints. Things are going so well in Ridley, in fact, that the district is planning to survey parents of middle and high school students on the prospect of adopting school uniforms in their children's schools later this school year. Kerry White is a Washington, D.C.-based staff writer with Education Week .