Bethlehem Area School Board member wants to follow Allentown with uniform mandate

Allentown School District requires all students to wear uniforms this year. Take a POLL.

When the Allentown School District announced its mandatory student uniform policy last year, Bethlehem Area School Board Director Basilio Bonilla Jr. was intrigued.

Bonilla said he spoke with Superintendent Joseph Roy a few weeks ago about the possibility of developing a school uniform policy for the 2014-15 school year. He said he's spoken with parents and other board members and the majority support him.

He pursued it last year but talks fizzled out.

School uniforms would discourage bullying, would save parents from having to buy lots of school clothes and would make schools safer because officials would know which students belong inside the school and which do not, he said.

"It's definitely something I'm pushing for," he said. "It would be the best thing for us."

Starting this school year, Allentown School District became the first public school district in the Lehigh Valley to implement student uniforms.

School board President Robert Smith Jr. previously said he believes implementation will be smooth at the elementary and middle school levels, although high schools could be a bigger challenge.

The uniforms for all district students include short-sleeve and long-sleeve polo shirts, long-sleeve sweaters, and footwear that is black, brown or white. Polos are white or light blue for elementary students, white or maroon for middle school students, royal blue or yellow at William Allen High School, and navy blue or gray at Dieruff High School.

A community decision

Easton Area School District interim Superintendent John Reinhart said he would introduce a school uniform policy if he had the authority to do so. Uniforms would eliminate in-school distractions, he said.

"I've always supported school uniforms, but I've always felt that is a community decision," he said. "Uniforms can help to build a sense of community and belonging in a school district."

Though he strongly believes students should be able to express themselves, he said they can do so when school ends until the next morning.

Other school officials said they are doing just fine without student uniforms.

North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District spokeswoman Maren Smagala, who has been in her position for six years, said "I've never heard the board of education or administration discuss or consider school uniforms."

Superintendent Charles Shaddow told Smagala "as long as students are adhering to our district’s dress code and parents and teachers are satisfied, we see no reason to suggest school uniforms."

The issue hasn't been discussed in the Phillipsburg School District either, Superintendent George Chando said.

"We have student dress codes which establish an appropriate standard of dress," Chando said. "If any conversation were to begin on this topic, the district would normally seek input from all constituencies and any recommendation to change our existing policy would then be reviewed by the appropriate board committee."

"So much time and energy is wasted enforcing the dress code by both educators and administrators that I would consider changing my position if the issue comes back to the board," Seiple said.

If the switch to uniforms ever happened, "the parents and students will have brought it upon themselves by not acting responsibly and protecting the liberties they currently have," he said.

Starting the conversation

Though most other districts haven't had any formal discussions regarding uniforms, Bethlehem's Bonilla said he would like to introduce a policy by the end of 2013.

He's meeting with Roy this week and South Bethlehem parents who support uniforms the following week. He plans to resurrect the topic during an open forum at a Monday night meeting.

If the district considers implementing uniforms in schools or even as a pilot program, then a dialogue must be created now, he said.

"It's becoming more and more clear that parents in Bethlehem are in support of school uniforms," Bonilla said.