Dad strips down at school board meeting to make ‘clear argument’ about dress code

GILBERT, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) – An Arizona father stripped down to shorts and a crop top during a school board meeting to make a statement about the district’s new dress code.

Ira Latham, a father of four Higley Unified School District students, took off his clothes during a board meeting in late September to reveal short shorts and a crop top – an outfit he believes is inappropriate for students in school.

In a video taken from the board meeting, Latham is seen approaching the podium.

“Under the proposed policy, this would be appropriate in a classroom,” Latham says to the school board, before pulling down his shorts and pulling off his shirt to reveal the crop top underneath.

He then spins around to show the audience the outfit from all angles.

Latham said he wanted to make a statement about the updated dress code policy he said is too lax.

“As a dad, that’s very concerned about my children as well as everyone else’s kids in the district, I wanted to make a clear argument,” Latham said.

The former policy, which hadn’t been updated for more than two decades, prohibited students from exposing their chest, abdomen, or midriff. However, the updated policy only restricts students from exposing their underwear.

“Before they had some guidance, but now they have no guidance. It’s just, ‘Kids, cover your underwear,’” Latham said.

However, Latham’s stunt did not sway the board. They voted 3 to 2 in favor of the updated policy.

Tiffany Shultz, governing board president, said in a statement that Latham removing his clothes was “a stunt that is great for news” but had no effect on her or the meeting.

“He made his statement and we carried on with our business. We heard from other speakers and moved on,” Shultz said. “As a board we voted to ultimately let parents and families decide what is appropriate for them. It is the parents and family’s choice and as long as it doesn’t disrupt the school day, it would be a non-issue.”

Shultz said the updated dress code is on par with other area schools’ policies.

“We want teachers to be teaching and not having to waste time measuring a girl’s shirt or making a girl feel uncomfortable,” Shultz said. “To summarize, this was to allow families to decide, move our policies forward and allow teachers to concentrate on teaching.”

Amanda Wade, another board member who voted in favor of the new policy, agreed with Shultz.

“While I respect and understand there are some parents who are angry with the policy, the choice of one parent at the board meeting to wear clothes to express his displeasure with the policy felt like it missed the mark,” Wade said.

However, Anna Van Hoek, a board member who voted against the new code, said she believes not all parents’ concerns are being heard.

“The fact that we have adults advocating for children to have less clothing on is absurd to me,” she said.

Parents and board members who are against the change said they hope to revisit the issue.

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