N.J. School District Pays Price for Dress Code
ELIZABETH, N.J. — The Elizabeth school district spent more than $2 million during the last 18 months to implement a new dress code for the 21,000 students it serves.
Since January 2006, the 30-school district has outfitted more than 9,000 students with navy blazers, khaki pants/skorts, polo shirts, sweatshirts and gym wear as part of a new dress-code policy that requires school uniforms.
Just 10 miles from New York City , the district serves mostly minority and low-income families, with approximately 80 percent of the student body qualifying for free or subsidized lunches. The majority of parents could not have afforded to pay for the uniforms, officials say.
The district, which contracted with American Wear clothing company to supply students with two complete uniforms and additional gym clothes, will cover the cost of the first set of uniforms for every student.
Parents will be responsible for the purchase of additional uniforms or replacement of lost items. Kindergarten students will receive an additional class outfit to be kept at the school as an emergency change of clothing.
Although the district has an annual budget of approximately $400 million, the dress code is being phased at several schools at a time during a five-year period to spread the costs. The new dress code has already been implemented at 15 schools, although parents can choose to opt out of the new dress code policy, officials say.
With school districts throughout the United States adopting stricter dress codes and implementing school-uniform policies, many parents have objected to the school-prescribed dress on both economic and constitutional grounds.
Some parents contend that forcing parents to pay for uniforms is antithetical to the guarantee of free public education, while others have claimed — many filing suit in federal court — that dress codes violate a student’s constitutional right of freedom of expression.
Critics of the Elizabeth program claim the district should not be in the clothing business and that supplying uniforms to students regardless of parents’ ability to bear the financial cost is a waste of already scarce financial resources that could be better directed elsewhere.