{"id":66262,"date":"2022-07-20T14:08:25","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T19:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=66262"},"modified":"2022-07-20T14:08:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T19:08:27","slug":"audience-member-addresses-clothing-policy-at-boe-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=66262","title":{"rendered":"Audience member addresses clothing policy at BOE meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By ALICIA FEYERHERM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hays USD 489 Board of Education met July 18, electing board leadership for next year. 
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Craig Pallister was elected as board president. Ken Brooks was elected as board vice president. Jess Reling and Renae Booth were elected as board clerk and deputy board clerk, and Carla Fellhoelter was elected board treasurer.
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During public comment, parent Mary Turner brought forward concerns that clothing referencing Satanism was prohibited in the school handbook dress code. 
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\u201cWhile children of other faiths can wear clothing that declares their family\u2019s religion, my family\u2019s faith is specifically called out and banned in the school handbook dress code,\u201d Turner said.
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Turner said the rule goes against the school\u2019s nondiscrimination policy stating no one will be discriminated against based on religion.
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\u201cI\u2019m here to ask that the school board remove Satanism from their dress code policy and that they no longer blacklist my family\u2019s faith and the faith of other families here in Hays as distracting, unsafe or offensive,\u201d Turner said. 
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Later in the meeting, the dress code issue was addressed by board members when reviewing the handbooks. 
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The high school handbook states: \u201cAttire worn in observance of a student\u2019s religion are not subject to this policy. Questions should be directed to administration.\u201d Whereas the middle school and elementary handbooks state: \u201c Items of apparel that are considered distracting, unsafe, offensive, revealing or suggestive (direct or indirect reference to alcohol, drugs, sex, profanity, gang affiliation, Satanism, tobacco, etc.) should not be worn.\u201d
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Board member Meagan Zampieri-Lillpopp advocated for the removal of the mention of Satanism. 
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\u201cWe specifically say the name of one religion in the \u2018no\u2019  list and I would challenge someone to put their own religion in that space and see how it feels,\u201d Zampieri-Lillpopp said.
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Superintendent Ron Wilson said the issue is not with the religion itself, but about disruptions in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf some attire is causing disruptions inside of the school because of what it says or what message it gives, sometimes that\u2019s where that is revoked,\u201d Wilson said.
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Zampieri-Lillpopp argued any statement could be disruptive depending on the person. 
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\u201cThe disruption is not the clothing,\u201d Zampieri-Lillpopp said. \u201cThe disruption is the person behaving in a disruptive manner.\u201d
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Board Member Curt Vajnar taught in the district for more than 30 years and disagreed clothing is not a disruption, bringing up when Big Johnson shirts were a trend.
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\u201cSome things they can put on a shirt is a distraction, and you\u2019re dealing with that and not teaching,\u201d Vajnar said.
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Wilson said the issues harken all the way back to the Vietnam War.
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\u201cPeople started wearing attire that made statements about the war and their feelings, and that\u2019s really what became the test case for schools in terms of being able to manage dress codes,\u201d Wilson said.
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Other changes to the handbooks this year include changing the Learning Center to Hays Virtual School and changing the grading scale to a 90, 80, 70, 60 scale. Hays High\u2019s handbook also now includes a disciplinary point system with individual violations listed with assigned point values for each violation and list of disciplinary actions to be taken. If a student reaches 20 points, a hearing will be scheduled for long-term suspension or expulsion.
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The board will review the handbooks again on Aug. 5. This will give the board time to review and revise while also getting the handbook published before the start of the school year.
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\u201cWe\u2019ll talk to the administrators and try to get some agreement from them on what they would feel comfortable with and then we\u2019ll bring it back to you on (Aug. 5),\u201d Wilson said.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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