‘No hoodies, no Crocs’: This high school is banning some of the most-worn items by teens
BESSEMER, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) – A public high school in Alabama is banning students from wearing multiple popular clothing items for the upcoming school year.
Bessemer City High School in the Bessemer City School District is cracking down on the dress code this year.
School officials said items such as open-toe shoes, hoodies, leggings and even Crocs have technically been against the rules for years, but this year, students could end up in suspension for wearing them.
The list of banned clothing items includes:
- Lounge pants and pajama pants
- Tights/leggings
- Hats/caps
- Sunglasses
- Bubble slides
- Open-toe slides and sandals
- Crocs
- Hoodies
- Headbands/sweatbands
- Bonnets and bandanas
- Crop tops/short shirts
- Bodycon/fitted dresses, shorts, and skirts
- Jeans with holes above the knee
Principal Stoney Pritchett and counselor Tahuna Thomas said they want students to be able to operate in a successful learning environment and limit distractions.
“We are OK with them being individual. We just want to make sure it falls within the guidelines of our dress code,” Thomas said.
Another reason they plan to enforce this dress code is for the safety of the students, the principal said.
“Oftentimes at the high school, we have drills. We have tornado drills, fire drills and weather drills,” Pritchett said. “We have to line up and go outside and things like that. We want to make sure that kids are safe moving throughout the building. Other things happen as well that the school can’t prevent. We just want to make sure that no one breaks their leg or their ankle because the school is liable, and we want to make sure everyone is safe.”
Pritchett said the school’s top priorities are safety and academics, which is why they plan to hold students accountable when they are out of dress code.
Bessemer City High School will begin the school year on Aug. 8.
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