Trustees address the dress; straps at heart of debate

COEUR d’ALENE — Lake City High School doesn’t anticipate any dress code problems with its homecoming dance this weekend because it is keeping it a casual affair.

That wasn’t the case with the Coeur d’Alene High School’s homecoming dance last weekend where students were not allowed to wear dresses with shoulder straps less than 2.5 inches wide.

Several parents complained about the policy and national media even took an interest in the story. Seventeen magazine ran a story online Monday about several students who chose not to attend the dance because they couldn’t find a semi-formal dress with 2.5-inch shoulder straps.

Coeur d’Alene School Trustee Christa Hazel said she has heard from several parents who said they are having a hard time finding dresses that would pass the school’s dress code.

Hazel said while the dress code, which was created in 2011, ultimately gives principals the authority to exercise “reasonable discretion,” the school board is likely to revisit the policy at its next meeting in October.

“My hope is that we will be seeking an amendment to that policy,” Hazel said. “We are putting this policy on the agenda, and we’ll have to see where the discussion takes us.”

Hazel said she is glad the issue came up early in the school year because it gives the board a chance to discuss the issue before the winter formal dances and prom season hit.

While the policy has been in place for several years, CHS decided to enforce the dress code more strictly this year after receiving several complaints from parents at the end of the last school year.

A decision was made at that time to switch the CHS homecoming dance from a casual dress code to a semi-formal dress code.

“(Parental complaints) prompted administrators to sit down with the student council and redesign this school year’s dance schedule, including changing homecoming from a casual dance to a semi-formal dance,” said Laura Rumpler, communications director for the Coeur d’Alene School District. “Both the administration and student leadership felt that changing homecoming to a semi-formal dance would help increase attendance, positive behavior at the dance and curb dress code infractions that occurred at more casual dances.”

Lake City High School Principal Deanne Clifford said she is treating the homecoming dance just like an “after the game” dance.

“A lot of them will be wearing jerseys and other spirit wear,” she said, adding she plans to use her discretion when it come to violating the dress code policy. “I am the kind of person that if the student looks appropriate, I am not going to stop them from attending the dance.”

Likewise, she added, if a student is dressed inappropriately, she will send them home.

“I have a picture of my parents at a dance in 1958,” Clifford said, adding her mom wore a strapless dress and that was not inappropriate at all.

Hazel said the same thing about her prom pictures.

“While it is thoroughly embarrassing, I plan to show the board a collage of my prom photos,” she said, adding she wore a strapless dress. “Historically, I can see numerous people have attended dances with strapless dresses or dresses with spaghetti straps.”