On Aug. 28, the CCS school board met and discussed the approval of the 2023-2024 Student Handbook in light of the new school year. Greg Brown, school board member, debated the dress code section of the new handbook. At the meeting, he said the current dress code is too lenient and puts the learning environment in jeopardy.

“I find that the high school dress code is more liberal in my opinion, and I find it rather nebulous in some ways,” Brown said. “Things like skin-tight clothes, short skirts, short shorts; I’m not sure if that is ‘dressing for success’ in a school environment. Don’t we find that skin-tight leggings, for example, don’t really qualify as maintaining common decency? Some children have bodies that are quite shapely, others do not. Are we being sensitive and inclusive to those that have less shapely bodies who might not be comfortable wearing revealing clothes?”

Brown also said the dress code allows for outfits that make surrounding children uncomfortable, and said it could pose a problem especially with growing mental health issues. Jennifer Nelson Williams, school board secretary, expressed her disagreement with Brown.

“So you’re sexualizing girls,” Williams said to Brown. “Is a woman’s shoulder or a girl’s shoulder the only time when you find a shoulder provocative?”

After discussion, the board decided to agree on the approval of the Student Handbook in a 4 to 1 vote.

Senior Naomi Fields, who attended the school board meeting, said she disagreed with Brown’s ideas for the dress code.

“I think that it is inappropriate for (Brown) to -what appears to be- sexualizing middle schoolers, because they were discussing the Creekside Middle School dress code,” Fields said. “By suggesting that some girls have more ‘shapely’ bodies than other girls, he’s putting an unnecessary emphasis on the sexuality of young kids.”

Fields also said Brown’s vision of the dress code could significantly limit the variety of outfits students can wear to school.

“Myself and a lot of other girls frequently wear form-fitted pants, leggings and tighter shirts to school,” she said. “Form-fitted clothes fit the dress code in all other (aspects) except for the fact that they are form-fitted. (Brown’s) suggestion that we’re not allowed to wear those does not leave us with many other options. Maybe (Brown) just wants us to wear uniforms to our public school.”

The school board is holding its next workshop session on Monday, Sept. 11. The public is invited to attend and the meeting is streamed on YouTube, according to the CCS website.