KINGSTON SPRINGS, Tenn. (WKRN) – Changes to the dress code at Harpeth Middle School has parents questioning the new guidelines on social media.
The changes include more specific rules on the length of shorts and shirts.
At Harpeth Middle School, students’ shorts, skirts and other bottoms must be extended to at least three inches above the knee.
Additionally, students are not allowed to wear sleeveless fashions including, but not limited to, tube tops, see through tops, mesh-tops, spaghetti straps, tank tops and sleeveless athletic shirts.
The updated dress code impacts only Harpeth Middle School because in Cheatham County, school principals have the ability to tailor dress codes to each individual school.
At Cheatham Middle School and Sycamore Middle School, the student dress code is similar, but not identical.
On those campuses the hem line of shorts, skirts and other bottoms must be at a minimum the length of a horizontal index card from the knee.
Students are allowed to wear sleeveless fashions as long as the tops do not have excessively large or revealing sleeve openings.
News 2 reached out to Cheatham County Schools, and spokesman Jeff Bennett released the following statement:
“The main priority of the Cheatham County School District is the safety and security of all students in all of our schools. With the beginning of the school year quickly approaching, the district is focused on professional development, academics and bringing faculty and staff together for district wide collaboration. This includes our administrative staff. Principals from each school collaborate on a regular basis to bring continuity across the district, but also learn how to meet the needs of their individual students. Cheatham County Board of Education policy 6.310 gives a framework for all dress codes across the district, but more specific guidelines appropriate for each level of school (elementary, middle, and high school) are developed for each individual school. School administrators come together to form guidelines that contain similar content for each level of school.”
The Cheatham County Board of Education policy states:
Students shall dress and groom in a clean, neat and modest manner so as not to distract or interfere with the operation of the school.
More specific guidelines appropriate for each level of school (elementary, middle, junior high and senior high) may be developed. Principals, faculty members and students shall be involved in the development of each appropriate set of guidelines. When a student is attired in a manner which is likely to cause disruption or interference with the operation of the school, the principal shall take appropriate action, which may include suspension and/or expulsion.
Parents told News 2 buying school clothes is a challenge every year.
“You have to find the better deals, so I usually go where the tax is cheaper and usually where I can buy more and get it for less,” Parent Traci Spivey said. “I have a lot of kids and I don’t get child support so I have to spend it where it is used wisely.”
Students return to Cheatham County Schools for a half day on August 11. The first full day of school is August 12.
Find out more about dress codes for schools in the county below:
Cheatham Middle School
Harpeth Middle School
Sycamore Middle School
Cheatham County Board of Education Policy