New York’s public institutions will soon be required to follow a fresh city-wide dress code.
New York City Council approved legislation on Thursday that will require students to adhere to New York State Education Department ( NYSED ) school dress codes and allow them to express themselves.
“Resolution 292 pushes for an equitable dress code to account for different nations, gender expression, and brain diversity”, according to Councilmember Althea Stevens, who sponsored the policy.
The government will now be required to update its website with dress code information and to release a report on the state of public schools, “including info about whether each class has a, broken down by month, year, and student race and gender.”
According to Diana Ayala, deputy speaker of the New York City Council who sponsored the legislation, “Uneven dress code procedures in New York City open schools have led to significant discipline and consequences for individuals who are merely expressing themselves.”
Students and families should be able to check whether any school’s dress code plan adheres to Client guidelines and is accurate when it is accessed from a central site on the Department of Education’s website.
School-age children may be able to have a say and “form the changes they want to see in their universities,” according to Stevens, who stated that a outfit code plan has not yet been released on the NYSED site.
She expressed hope that the change would lead to “consistent, inclusive, and fair policies that do n’t unfairly target our students across our educational system.”
According to the NYSED, between 2022 and 2023 there were 937, 118 K—12 kids, from school to 12th grade, in the area.
Nearly all U.S. public school districts require students to adhere to dress codes, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office ( GAO ).
In a 2022 record on K-12 training, which is said to be more likely to have an impact on girls and students of color, the GAO stated that while class districts frequently cite security as the justification for having a dress code, several dress codes also have elements that could make the environment less equal and safe for students.
It said school districts “more frequently restrict items typically worn by girls” ,—like skirts, tank tops, and leggings, than they would clothing typically worn by boys, like “muscle shirts”.
“Most dress codes also contain laws about kids’ hair, scalp styles, and head coverings, which may disproportionately affect Black students and those of specific religions and cultures”, the GAO also found.