With temperatures still hovering near 100°, summer fashion trends are still in vogue on campus. However, students are still expected to follow student dress code expectations.  

“We’ve kind of become more relaxed throughout the years,” Assistant Principal Phil Brown said. “I want to say about 2014–15, we relaxed even a little more, to allow young ladies to wear smaller strings on the shoulders, allow young men to wear tank tops, things of that nature. Today, when it’s pretty much the same, [though] the midriffs are a big issue for both our young ladies and men to make sure they’re not showing too much of their mid-section. We want kids to feel that they can express themselves but within the appropriate measures.” 

Despite the flexibility that students are given, students should be aware that the dress code is taken seriously and when proper guidelines aren’t followed, steps can be taken to solve the problem. 

“If you are dress coded, you will be sent to the front office to get into ‘Dress for Success,’ whether that be a t-shirt or pants, or whatever article of clothing that you need to have,” Brown said. “So that would be your first warning. After that, you start having consequences such as detention and so on, and they continue as you continue to violate the dress code. We tend to give kids the opportunity to get what they need, but make sure they’re not missing class, and that’s the most important thing.”

Having a dress code isn’t something all students agree with, but for junior Arin Bhave, the dress code should be minimal.

 “The fact that we need a dress code in the first place is kind of annoying,” junior Arin Bhave said. “I don’t like that idea, because we can make decisions for ourselves. Sure, there should be some rules, but they should be pretty basic. And if I could change it, it could just be like don’t wear slurs.”

At the end of the day, dress code challenges are expected by campus administration and they are ready to help students understand why the policy is in place. 

“Are students going to push boundaries?” Brown said. “Yes, they are, and we just want to make sure that students are within the boundaries and understand why a certain article of clothing or the way they wear their clothes is not appropriate for school.”