As students return for another year at Faith Lutheran High School, they are greeted with new classes, teachers, and this year, different dress code rules. The administration has reevaluated its dress code policy after the violations were much more abundant by the end of last year. 

Last year, the most noticeable dress code violations were those of girls wearing flared leggings on regular school days and both genders rolling their khaki or black school shorts higher than the allowed length. Page 13 of Faith Lutherans Parent/Student handbook, under the heading “Prescribed Dress,” states that “students are allowed to wear straight-legged or flared/boot cut khaki or black pants or capris.” This acceptance of flared pants has caused the rise of popularity in high school girls at Faith wearing flared leggings and wearing them as normal uniforms. 

Emphasized in this new rule is the strict regulation of girls’ and boys’ shorts being a longer and more visible length than they were at the end of last year. Page 13 also quotes that “shorts must be mid-thigh length or longer and may not be rolled at the waist or the thigh.” This is also being heavily enforced in teachers’ protocol as they are supposed to check a student’s uniform more often in class and the hallways. 

The girls in attendance at Faith Lutheran have had a similar opinion about the harsh input of teachers about dress code conformity during school. Senior Taylor Folk quotes, “I don’t like how the school’s being so strict about dress code this year. I’ve been told a lot of times that what I’m wearing isn’t correct even though last year it was completely acceptable for spirit days. I’m wearing Faith gear every time and sometimes I get caught up for not wearing Faith gear even though it clearly was. I think it’s just because the teachers don’t want to get in trouble for it potentially not being in dress code when it clearly was Faith wear.”

On the contrary, the boys at Faith have had a different experience with teachers’ reactions to being in or out of the dress code. “The dress code isn’t bad. It’s actually pretty good. It’s honestly not as bad as the girls dress code, considering we don’t have a code for how long our shorts have to be. I don’t know why they complain about the dress code. It’s less strict than Gormans.” says Senior Brandon Swanson, who is given a much more lenient set of rules regarding his outfits at Faith.

Teachers have also been given new tasks regarding the students’ dress. Ms. Heimlich states that this new year there is a clear yes and no, coming straight from Mr. Buikema. “I wouldn’t say its changed; if anything it makes it a little bit easier because Mr. Buikema presented to the faculty pictures of what’s okay and what’s not okay and was very clear about it.”

The girls and boys at Faith have had very different viewpoints on the severity of the dress code at Faith, but with more rules also comes heavier punishment for students. With administration coming into classes for independent dress code checks and being marked absent if you’re not correctly dressed, students at Faith will watch what they wear to school much closer this school year.