Parents angry at the newly established school uniform policy for elementary students are expected to confront the board members at the Board of Education meeting on July 27, seeking to get the board to modify or suspend the policy.
While it is difficult to determine just how many parents are upset about a policy requiring students in all 11 elementary schools to purchase and wear uniforms by Sept. 26, several parents are particularly outspoken about the policy, its implementation and the way the vendor was selected.
The policy, which has been under discussion by administrators since January and perhaps earlier, was put into place by a vote of the board at its June 19 meeting. Since then, however, problems with implementation seemed to increased opposition to the policy.
Critics of the policy, of course, vary – from those like Laurie Coles, who opposes uniforms at all, to other parents like Sharon Metro, who said the policy is unfair and costs parents too much money.
Cole, in fact, is among a group of parents seeking legal help with the possible objective of suing the district to stop the policy.
“As parents, we believe it is our ultimate responsibility to ensure that the Board of Education and any other parties acting on behalf of our public school students, are acting completely in their best interest,” Coles said in her communication with other parents. “The board has not demonstrated how a mandatory uniform policy is in anyone’s best interest, except perhaps for the single vendor they have chosen to supply us with $1.3M worth of uniforms for the upcoming school year. Until now, the BBOE has refused to listen to and answer any of the relevant questions that have been raised by the community they have been entrusted to serve.”
Coles said she is trying to get the American Civil Liberties Union involved with the issue, although ACLU often takes six weeks to review a case before deciding to take it on or not.
Coles said she is opposed to the uniform policy, a fact she made clear in written comment to the school district when a questionnaire was sent home earlier this year.
She also was among the parents who went to the June 19 Board of Education to oppose the measure.
“There is widespread opposition,” Coles said. “People are being galvanized against it.” Although many parents have complied with the request of the school district to get their students measured for uniforms, some parents did so only because the school district threatened suspension.
“I spent $300 on uniforms only because they threatened to suspend my children,” said Sharon Metro, who disagreed with numerous aspects of the program including the fact that parents must purchase uniform packages before they are allowed to buy individual pieces. Metro also said one of her children takes adult sizes, which increases the cost.
A need to modify the plan at least, Chiappone says
Councilman Anthony Chiappone, a member of the Board of School Estimate, which oversees the financing of the school district, said he has met with Mayor Joseph Doria with the hopes of finding a way to modify the uniform plan.
“There are problems with this system and parents are complaining to me constantly,” he said. “One area is the larger sizes where parents have to pay extra for modifications. The other area is in the gym uniforms. I think we have to look at this and allow parents more choice.”
Doria, then a member of the state Assembly, pushed through the uniform legislation in the mid-1990s based on an idea proposed by then-President Bill Clinton. But his bill, which was later modified before becoming law, said schools could not penalize parents who refuse to take part in the school uniform program. The law later implemented allowed districts the option to suspend students for not complying. Bayonne, in keeping consistent with its dress code policy, could also suspend students.
“My daughter goes to Robinson School, and I do not believe that she should be denied a public education just because she doesn’t wear a uniform,” said Coles.
Dr. Patricia McGeehan, superintendent of Bayonne School District, however, noted that district would still provide students with an education even if they were suspended because of the policy.
Many areas of concern
Lisa Downey, another parent outraged by the uniform policy said she is opposed to the concept of the uniforms.
“These are free public schools and I do not believe that the Board of Education has the right to tell us what our children should be wearing and where to buy it,” she said. “The Board of Ed has blatantly disregarded the wishes of the parents who stood up, en masse, on June 19 at the Board of Education meeting to voice their disapproval of the uniforms.”
She said the school district already had a dress code, and has no need for a uniform policy.
“If there was truly a problem with the manner in which elementary school children are dressed (which I don’t see), the first step should have been enforcing the dress code and speaking to the parents of the 4- or 12 year-old children,” she said.
Downey, like many parents, questions the validly of a questionnaire sent home seeking input from parents on the uniforms. She feels the questionnaire was flawed.
“The survey, which the board claims they used to gather parents’ feedback earlier in the year, was ridiculous,” Downey said. “It asked only if parents were in favor of a uniform. Nowhere did it mention the type of uniform or that parents would be forced to purchase uniforms from the one vendor of the board’s choosing.”
Although school officials claimed they were not required to seek bids to award the contract, they did get proposals before awarding the contract to Uniformity, of Newark, a subsidiary of Scholastic Uniforms in Union City.
Coles has set up a poll for parents on a Web site, hoping to get a better perspective on how most parents feel and possibly drum up opposition.
The site is http://www.meetup.com.
“Go to the search box, and type ‘Bayonne’,” Coles said. “We’re the Bayonne Concerned Parents Meetup.”
An alternative plan
Arnold Green, chief operations officer of Green Uniform, said his was one of the proposals rejected by the Board of Education.
“We’ve had a store in Bayonne for seven years,” he said. “We’ve been doing all of the local parochial schools. We gave the school board samples and feel we met all the criteria – since we already have a store in Bayonne. But we were notified that we didn’t get the contract.”
Green said his company, which had been part of a pilot program three years ago, was the only one of the bidders that met the criteria of having a store in Bayonne.
Uniformity is expected to open a storefront catalogue store on Broadway in August. “We’ve been in Bayonne for seven years, five years at the same location on Avenue A,” he said. “Our company has been around for 50 years in New York, Connecticut and Long Island. So we’re not new kids on the block.”
Green said he is not a sore loser, but wanted to help find a solution to the growing problem the school district was facing.
“My idea is that we might become an alternative supplier and give parents a choice,” he said. “We know Uniformity. We have a better quality product, and we would be willing to donate uniforms for those who need them.”
Contact Al Sullivan at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com