At the start of this year, the Hawthorne School District implemented a uniform policy in all of their eleven schools. The schools that experienced this change include Kornblum Elementary, Ramona Elementary, Bud Carson Middle School, Hawthorne Middle School, and Prairie Vista Middle School. The district uniforms include a solid-color collared shirt with a twill fabric bottom. The uniform policy was implemented on January 11, 2016.

HMSA’s uniform policy actually influenced the school district to extend the policy throughout the district. The Hawthorne School District Superintendent, Dr. Helen E. Morgan, provided some insight: “Much of the motivation came from the HMSA uniform policy. When community members saw our HMSA students there were often comments about how professional the students look in their uniforms. All of our Board Members were in support of a District-wide uniform policy.”

The process for implementing the uniforms was a very long one. Four years ago, parents and staff members visited the Long Beach Unified School District (a district that had a uniform policy for several years) to consider adopting a similar policy. School Board Members’ interest in a district-wide uniform policy initiated this visit as well as a comprehensive plan to implement the uniform policy.  Dr. Morgan walked me through the extensiveness of the process: “We continued to discuss the logistics of implementation and worked with the individual School Site Councils to pass a request for a uniform policy on to the Board of Trustees. We continued with parent meetings, information sharing, and ultimately implementation.”

We applaud the school district for implementing this uniform policy. The uniforms make schools safer for students, create a “level playing field” that reduces socioeconomic disparities, and encourage students to shift their focus on their schoolwork rather than their clothing. Essentially, uniforms are beneficial to students, parents, and staff members. Uniform systems contribute positively to student behavior. In an era where fashion trends are dominant in any community, it is easy to lose focus on school. Also, uniforms definitely provide easier mornings for parents. When there is no debate on what a student is allowed to wear, I think all parents can agree that this will lead to less morning arguments. Most importantly, uniforms increase student safety.  Dr. Morgan affirmed, “Student safety is a top priority for our District and with the uniform implementation, it is very easy for District staff to identify our students when out in the community.” She as well as many others “appreciate the ease with which [they] can identify our students and ensure they are safe both at school and when in the community on their way to and from school.”

A common misconception is that most students dislike uniforms. Many claim that students like to wear the own clothing to “express” themselves and that uniforms are uncomfortable. However, during the implementation process of the uniforms, there was very little opposition to the uniforms. The community meetings and Board meetings provided students an opportunity to address the Board with any concerns, but no complaints were received. Furthermore, students were actually involved in the decision process. Middle schools in the Hawthorne School District have Student Site Councils that represent students. Dr. Morgan added, “The decision to move forward at each site came from the council so these students were involved in the decision making process.” Parents were also very supportive of the decision. They were informed every step of the implementation process. The Hawthorne School District held over twenty meetings with the community to inform them of the change. Consistent phone messages, webpage stories, and school site messaging also helped keep both parents and students up-to-date. When asked about parent support, Dr. Morgan commented, “I have only encountered positive reviews regarding this decision from parents.”

Essentially, wearing uniforms allows students to become more disciplined where they begin to understand what people wear is not everything. It also saves money for the students’ families because the parents do not have to constantly buy new clothes for their children to wear to school. On top of that, the Hawthorne District was able to provide uniforms to families in need of assistance. The district ensured that the uniforms would not be a financial burden whatsoever.

As aforementioned, uniforms increase school safety because there are no articles of clothing that can threaten, harm, offend, and/ or be a gang sign toward someone. Schools without a uniform policy still have to closely monitor students’ clothing. There are usually rules regarding modesty issues, offensive text on clothing, and gang colors and symbols. With uniforms, this of course is avoided altogether.

Lastly, school uniforms allow students to look professional and it helps them get into the mode of dressing professionally. Uniforms take the pressure off having to “dress to impress” simply because with uniforms, you are already dressed to impress. The most obvious effect of uniforms is less bullying; students can no longer be teased for their clothing. Lately, everything seems to be concerned with materialistic things, so taking clothes out of the equation will help us see each other as humans and not about who can afford what. With uniforms, we are all equal and the only thing that separates us is our character. Uniforms can serve as a way to help build character and make friends we never thought we could make because of our differences.

The new district-wide uniform policy is a definite positive for the entire community. It improves the safety of schools and ensures the success of students. Thanks to the parents, students, and the Hawthorne School District for a cooperative effort in implementing a favorable uniform policy, and a special thanks to Dr. Morgan for taking take time out of her schedule to answer our questions.

The following is a chart that outlines uniform requirements for each school: