Uniforms, Or a "Uniformed Dress," Look Likely for Illing

Uniforms, or a "uniformed dress," could soon be coming to Arthur H. Illing Middle School. The Board of Education heard a presentation on such a proposal as part of its meeting Monday evening and seemed - no pun intended - uniformly supportive of the idea. 

“I think that over the last year here in Manchester there has developed a climate of disrespect” in the Manchester School System, said Michael Rizzo, a Republican member of the school board, as he threw his support behind the uniform proposal, adding “it’s definitely the right direction to go in and I applaud your efforts.”

While Bethany Silver, a Democratic member of the Board of Education, said that having students attired in a uniform would allow the school system, and students, to “focus on growing students intellectual capabilities to define them,” as opposed to clothing being their primary means of expression.

Troy Monroe, principal of Illing Middle School, and James Farrell, a teacher at the school, presented the proposal to the school board Monday evening, which Monroe and the school’s Principal’s Advisory Committee have been working on for the majority of the school year. Monroe stressed that the policy was seeking to achieve a “uniformed dress” for students at the school with several approved clothing options that students could select from on any given school day, not uniforms in the classic sense where every student wears the exact same outfit day in and day out.

“There is a difference between a uniform and a uniformed dress,” Monroe said, adding that the word “uniforms” carried “perceptions of wealth,” but that a “uniformed dress implies a similar look.”

“Still there is a standard of dress, but we’re building in choices and options,” he said.

The dress options that the advisory committee and school administrators favored, according to Monroe, were three basic choices in shades of short-sleeved polo shirts – white, green and blue – and three different choices in shades of dress pants – traditional khaki, tanned and black. Girls would also have the option of opting for a skort as opposed to the pants, and students could also wearsimilar fleeces and sweaters in the same colors. Monroe said the school has also looked into the idea of having some sort of school insignia or logo designed for the uniforms.

Monroe said that, based on research he had done into the prices of such attire, a polo shirt would cost anywhere from $8 to $20, the pants from about $13 to $40, and the fleeces or sweaters would probably cost in the $20 to $25 range.

Maria Cruz, a Democratic member of the school board, said she supported the proposal but was concerned that some families in the Manchester area would not be able to afford the uniforms right off the bat. Cruz works as a social worker in Hartford, which implemented a uniform policy several years ago, where she said she saw firsthand families struggling to meet the new standards.

“I speak from the experience that I’ve seen that increase in families not being able to purchase (uniforms) because they could not afford them,” Cruz said.

Monroe said that the uniformed dress options were more affordable than “designer” brand clothing and that parents could purchase three different outfit combinations for about $150. He said that once the school had the policy in place for several years it could begin to establish a “clothing bank” to pass down to economically challenged students whose families could not afford the uniforms, while the school was hoping for donations or assistance from the business community the first couple of years to provide uniforms to economically challenged students.

Monroe said that his research into the subject found that schools or school districts that implemented a uniform policy began to show improved academic performance, discipline and attendance. He said it would also allow the school to keep certain unwanted fashions, styles and colors out of the building.

“This would give us an opportunity to minimize those types of gang colors to materialize in our school,” he said.

Farrell presents the results of an informal survey of about 1,050 parents, teachers, students and community residents.  About 60 percent or more of parents and teachers “strongly approved” of most aspects of the policy, while about 60 percent or more of surveyed students “strongly disagreed” with most of the assertions about the policy posited under the survey.

Some of the anonymous responses that Farrell included with the survey were those of a teacher who said that the new policy “will give back more time to teaching that’s wasted with issues created by inappropriate attire.” While an anonymous student was quoted as saying “kids are always going to find something to bully other kids about. This is a band aid.”

During an interesting turn in Monday evening’s proceedings, Jenna Leon, the elementary school-aged daughter of Board of Education member Neal Leon, read a letter during the public comment portion of the meeting that she said her mother helped her to prepare opposing the policy.

“The idea of uniforms is not something I’m looking forward to,” Jenna said. “…It would take away our freedom to express ourselves and our own styles.”

Later in the meeting, Neal Leon said he supported the policy, but was proud of his daughter for expressing her opinion. 

Monroe said that, if successful, he hoped that Illing’s uniformed dress policy could be used as a “pilot program” that would eventually lead to the policy being adopted district-wide.

Board of Education Chairman Chris Pattacini said the school board would most likely vote on the policy as part of its April 11 meeting, and “strongly urged” members of the board to approve it.

Rizzo encouraged the community to contact members of the school board and administration before the next board meeting to express their thoughts or concerns over the issue, noting that the school board would likely approve the policy at its next meeting.

“I think the public needs to pay attention here, because we are on the verge of making a major change at Illing Middle School,” Rizzo said. “It’s more than a work in progress at this point.”