Teachers and staff at a Connecticut school district will be expected to present a professional appearance after a dress code was instituted this week.
The Torrington Board of Education voted 7-3 to approve the policy, which will prohibit staff from wearing shorts, dresses and skirts shorter than 2 inches above the knee, jeans, sports sandals, flip-flops, hats and bandanas, and inappropriately sheer, tight or low-cut clothing. Graphic T-shirts, hoodies/sweatshirts, sweatpants, pajama pants, and yoga pants are also prohibited.
An exception is made for gym teachers and custodians and for all staff on two weekly “dress down” days (scheduled by the superintendent), when staff can wear spiritwear and jeans that are without holes, rips or frays.
The policy was recommended to the full board by the policy committee after the district recently established a dress code for students.
The change to student attire has been an improvement, Jason Lafreniere, a special education teacher and CEA representative to the policy committee, told the board during the public comment section of the meeting.
Two female students, however, asked the board to reconsider the student policy, saying that it unfairly targets girls, is vague in some cases, and has led to “uncomfortable conversations” for both teachers and students.
Lafreniere said he has appreciated not seeing pajama bottoms, slippers and revealing clothing in the halls.
For teachers and staff, though, Lafreniere noted that while he is agreeable to the policy, he has been bothered by reports of how widespread inappropriate attire is. The policy was not proposed as a result of any incident that occurred and potential violations are rare, he said.
“We need to be role models for those we would teach today,” he said, noting that leadership takes several forms. “Being present every day and offering a supportive, engaging and rigorous environment is certainly one way we are role models.
“Can I do that in jeans and sneakers? Sure. But I get that the board and administration want us to be more than role models in our actions but also in the way we look. You look good, you feel good, you do good,” he said.
Jeans and sneakers were sticking points of the policy and feedback from staff centered mostly around those issues, Ed Corey, board co-chairperson said.
Sneakers were ultimately allowed, while the board voted to allow jeans only on dress down days.
Gary Eucalitto, chair of the policy committee, who proposed the policy, advocated for restricting jeans even further to only those with a dark wash, which he said was more professional looking.
People in other professions have to keep to a certain standard and often a uniform, he said.
“I just don’t understand why we want to dress it down any more than we already have, so again, I will go with the two days dress down a week,” he said.
A former board member and longtime teacher, Heidi Laus, reminded the board that classrooms today are stressful and that teachers and staff are required to adapt to a variety of situations from standing before a class to sitting on the floor with a struggling student.
“Prescriptive rules about teachers’ clothing don’t account for all these realities,” she told the board. “This prescriptive list risks undermining professional judgment, unnecessary rigidity in a profession that demands daily flexibility.”
Also, she asked, “Do you really want administrators inspecting clothing every morning?”
Corey was also sympathetic to teachers’ feedback, saying, “I think teachers and all of our employees are professionals and it behooves us to hear some of the feedback and try to work with folks so everybody can have a result so that they’re unhappy with but not intolerant of. And while it’s our right to impose whatever policies we want, I just don’t like doing government that way.”
Corey ultimately joined members Ellen Hoehne and Kristen Conway in voting no on the policy.