DETROIT LAKES — Some people have a strong opposition to wearing caps indoors; others see no issue with it. It's a topic that's been on the tongues of many before, and was recently the subject of a discussion by the Detroit Lakes School Board.
Board members were tasked with reviewing the district's dress code at their meeting on Monday, April 25, and member John Steffl took exception to the part of the policy that places hat-wearing at the discretion of school building administrators. He said there were also other parts of the policy that he didn’t feel were being followed, but did not give specifics.
“One thing leads to another,” he said. “We’re going to have bigger fish to fry down the road by allowing some of this stuff.”
He noted that during a recent classroom visit he saw three students wearing their hoods up, which he perceived as “not welcoming.”
“I think it is all about respect,” Steffl said. “What are these kids going to do when they get older? When they go to a job interview…and they’re used to wearing hats and they get the job. They go back…and the (boss) says, 'Well, we don’t wear hats or hoods here.’ I think there is a 50% chance, the way some kids are nowadays, they will turn around and walk off the job. I don’t think we are teaching them good manners.”
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Board member Courtney Henderson said that as a former educator, she knows some students wear hoods because of a bad hair cut or because they couldn’t wash their hair prior to attending school. She added that her concern is whether or not hat-wearing impedes on students' ability to learn.
“If a hat isn’t hurting their learning or the learning of other students, then I don’t see that that even matters,” Henderson said.
Board member Jennifer Pederson said she had “thought long and hard” about the topic and decided it should be up to the administration because “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.”
Board member Amy Erickson weighed in, too, stating that she's heard from parents on both sides of the issue. After listening to constituents, she supported allowing the administrators to decide the rules for their respective buildings.
Board member Thomas Seaworth felt that a portion of the policy that had been removed, should remain. The section that was removed listed examples of when headgear would be allowed, such as in cases where a student was undergoing chemotherapy or for religious reasons.
“I can’t imagine a principal would ever object to that, but you never know in this day and age,” Seaworth said.
Later, Seaworth agreed to put his trust in the district’s administrative team to make the right decisions regarding students wearing hats, and he and most of the other board members approved the dress code as written. Steffl was the sole board member to oppose it.
